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Italian Tuna Salad with Red Onion and Beans
(Insalata di Tonno, Fagioli e Cipollina Rossa)

This is my own version of a traditional Northern Italian Tuna Salad. The original recipe is very simple: open a can of tuna, slice a red onion, toss with your beans, add plenty of olive oil, some salt and pepper and serve with a slice of Tuscan bread.

My recipe is a bit more complex, but it transforms this poor people's lunch into an entree' fancy enough to be served at a formal dinner, healthy and colorful enough to make quite an impression on your guests and still easy enough that you won't have to spend half a day in the kitchen. Serve it in the Summer, in large wooden bowls and with a few green olives, as a main course, or in the Winter, garnished with black olives, as an Antipasto. Thick, crusty bread and a glass of white wine complement it beautifully.

INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS

PREPARE AHEAD: 3 cups White Wine Stock (for poaching your tuna), as follows:

In a medium size sauce pan combine 1 cup clam juice, canned or home made, 1 cup water or fish stock and 1 cup dry, white wine, such as Pinot Grigio. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, a few pinches of dried or fresh herbs of your choice such as dill, thyme, marjoram, parsley, chives, etc., 2 finely minced or pressed garlic cloves and a few whole, white peppercorns.

Bring the stock to a slow simmer, then add:

2 lbs. tuna steak, skin removed, cut in 1/2 inch cubes.

Simmer fish cubes in the Wine Stock for 3 or 4 minutes or until completely cooked (you will be able to tell that they are cooked when they turn evenly lighter in color and firmer in texture). Drain the tuna cubes and toss them in:

the juice from half a lemon
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
a generous pinch of sea salt
a pinch of white pepper
a handful of fresh parsley, washed, trimmed and minced

Place poached tuna cubes in a glass, ceramic or plastic bowl (not in metal), cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the refrigerator to cool down completely. Keep refrigerated until half an hour before serving the Salad.

4 cups cooked Garbanzo or Great Northern Beans or Navy Beans (white or red)

You can cook the beans yourself, but for expedience' sake I recommend using pre-cooked beans, sold in glass jars in any health food store. These are organic, perfectly cooked and with nothing added to them except a bit of sea salt. Drain the beans using a strainer, rinse them for a few seconds under cold running water if necessary, and put them in a salad bowl.

Add the following ingredients to the beans:

2 cups cherry tomatoes, washed, dried and trimmed
1 red onion, sliced very thinly (if the flavor of raw onion is too strong for you, rinse the slices under hot water for a few seconds and pat them dry with paper towel before adding them to your salad)
1 bunch arrugula, washed, trimmed and, coarsely chopped
1 bunch fresh scallions, washed, trimmed and chopped
sea salt to taste
Balsamic vinegar to taste
extra virgin olive oil to taste
black pepper to taste (optional)

Toss these ingredients to combine flavors, refrigerate them until half an hour before serving, then add the tuna cubes.

Adjust seasoning and serve on a bed of Mesclun or baby Romaine lettuce.

PS. You can re-use the stock, if you like, within a couple of days, either to make another Poached Fish Salad or by adding it to a Fish Soup of your choice, a Risotto or a Fish Stew. If you wish to keep it longer you must freeze it in a plastic container. If you do, remember to leave room for expansion, since stock, like water, could expand by up to 1/5 of its original volume when frozen.

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