My (Kate’s) grandma tempted me to eat tuna salad when I was in grade school not because of the ingredients, but because I wanted to spend time with her at the table. When she asked whether I’d like a little tuna salad (always with the adjective “little,”) I knew that meant she wanted some herself, so I learned to say yes. She’d quickly mix tuna with mayonnaise and a little celery salt, stir it up with a chopped head of iceberg lettuce and arrange a nice mound of it onto a pretty plate. I’d put placements and glasses of water on the table, and fold the napkins on the left before resting our forks on top. Then we’d sit together and eat.
Grandma’s been gone for almost twenty years, and I still think of her often. Sometimes thinking of her makes me hungry for tuna salad. I’ve come up with a new-fangled recipe that I know she would like, and I make it at the cabin where we used to spend time together, because it calls for the basic pantry ingredients that we take on vacation.
When gathering your ingredients, you’ll want to get the boiled eggs ready first. The recipe calls for four, but we always make six because members of this family love a boiled egg. Put eggs in a medium saucepan and fill it with enough water to cover them by an inch. Bring the water to a strong boil, cover the pan, turn off the heat, and set a timer for 18 minutes. Pour off the hot water when the timer goes off and cool them with fresh water. (If you boil them ahead of time, which we like to do, put them in a pretty bowl to set them apart from the other eggs in your refrigerator.)
Tuna Salad
Serves 4 to 6
2 5-ounce cans solid tuna, rinsed and drained
2 ribs of celery, sliced thin
1 small jar of roasted red peppers, chopped
3/4 teaspoon kosher salt (less if you’re using table salt)
1/3 cup of mayonnaise
1/2 lemon, juiced
4 hard boiled eggs, peeled and quartered or sliced, according to your mood
1 head fresh lettuce, washed and cut into bite-size pieces
Olives or banana peppers for garnish—optional—if you like a little vinegar
Place tuna, celery, and peppers into a medium bowl and sprinkle with salt. Then mix them together with mayonnaise and lemon juice. Arrange the lettuce in the bottom of a large salad bowl, then top with tuna mixture. Arrange eggs around the edge of the bowl, or however you like, and add additional garnishes. If you’ve been playing hard in the oceans or the mountains, you might want to add cubes of swiss cheese. Bring to the table and eat with some good artisanal bread.