Lunch With Madame Mere...Mediterranean Tuna Salad On Roasted Red Peppers

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This weekend MM and I were on our own.  My daughter flew up north to visit friends and I got to take care of Mother, Madison, Lily and Coco.  Just us girls, by ourselves, with Lindaraxa to feed us.

Yesterday was a race against the clock to fertilize the azaleas and fumigate the roses before the storms came in the late afternoon.  It was unusually hot and humid and, by noon, after a final sweep of the garage,  I was ready for bed.  But there was lunch to prepare for my mother has no help during the weekend and she does look forward to her meals.  Usually my daughter pitches in, but this time I was flying solo.

I am telling you all this so you can appreciate how easy this recipe was to put together.  I had all the ingredients on hand, including half a big jar of Italian roasted red peppers.  I placed the salad on a plate  in the freezer and a French rose in a bucket full of ice while I went upstairs to take a shower. By the time we sat down it was so cold MM asked when I had made it.

What makes this salad different and Mediterranean are not only the roasted red peppers, but the addition of capers and scallions to an everyday tuna salad.  It may become the standard in this house when tomatoes are not available or out of season.

This recipe feeds four, which means we get to enjoy it for lunch again today!

Mediterranean Tuna Salad On Roasted Red Peppers
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 can white tuna, oil or water packed, drained
4 TB mayonnaise
2 celery stalks, peeled and finely chopped
4 hard boiled eggs
2 TB finely sliced scallions
1 to 2 TB drained capers
Black pepper to taste
Salt if needed

2 canned roasted red peppers, cut in half
Fresh parsley, chopped

Directions

Boil the eggs for 15 minutes and chill in an ice bath.  In a bowl, mix the tuna, mayonnaise, celery, scallions and capers.  Add the black pepper and one boiled egg, chopped. Taste for salt.  You will find that you don't need any.

In a plate, open one red pepper half, add some tuna salad.  Sprinkle with parsley on top, if using, and decorate each plate with the rest of the eggs, sliced.

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers With Salmon And Yellow Rice

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Stuffed red bell peppers are one of my favorite comfort meals.  There are many variations but the one we usually think of has beef, cheese or a combination of both with rice.  They are delicious but can be a bit heavy for lunch or on a warm summer night.  Last week I made them using leftover baked salmon and saffron rice.  If you can believe, they were the leftovers of leftovers.

Costco sells a  ready to bake salmon with basil pesto that comes in handy when you are pressed for time.   The first night we had it with boiled potatoes and asparagus with Parmesan cheese.  Nice and healthy.  The second night we had the leftovers cold with yellow rice and asparagus vinaigrette.  I mixed dill and chives with mayonnaise to go with the salmon.  And on the third night, I stuffed three of the six red peppers I had also bought at Costco.  Talk about averaging down on the price of a meal...

I have always splurged on food (and shoes) but these days, with the price of meat and seafood in the stratosphere, I have become an artiste in the kitchen.  We all need to start thinking this way for it's only going to get worse.

I will probably repeat this exercise very soon but next time, I will save the stuffed peppers for a lady's lunch.  A cold soup and a light dessert is all you need for a delightful ladies lunch.

I strongly recommend that you make the salmon the night before and enjoy it with the yellow rice for dinner.  If you want to make the stuffed peppers from scratch, here's the recipe.  I would still make the yellow rice the day before and keep it in the refrigerator.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked yellow rice from about 1 cup raw white rice*
4 large red bell peppers
1 1/4 lbs salmon
6 large basil leaves
2 TB butter softened
olive oil
Salt and pepper
2 TB mayonnaise
1 tsp dill
Parmesan cheese


For the rice:

1 TB butter
2 TB chopped scallions
2TB chopped red pepper
1 cup white rice
1 3/4 Chicken broth
pinch of saffron or use turmeric to color the rice

Procedure

If you haven't made the rice do it now so it can cool..Saute the scallion and pepper in the butter.  Add the rice and combine.  Add the chicken broth, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and cook until rice is done, about 20 minutes.  If the rice is not done you can always add more broth, cover and continue cooking. Set aside to cool.

Now bake the salmon. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the chopped basil leaves with the softened butter and place on top of the salmon.  Bake the salmon for 30 minutes or until done.  Do not overcook. When the salmon is done, take it out of the pan and let cool.

Cut the top off the peppers.  Remove and discard the stem and seeds.  Cut a small slice off the bottoms of the peppers so they sit level in the pan.

Oil the peppers all over with olive oil and set on an oven proof Pyrex or baking pan.  Cook at 375 for about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool slightly.

 Flake the salmon before adding to rice.

Combine the rice and salmon in a bowl.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix the dill and the mayonnaise and add to the rice and salmon.  Check again for salt and pepper.

With a dessert spoon gently stuff the peppers.  Top with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Replace the top of the peppers and drizzle olive oil over the stuffed peppers, along the outside of the peppers, and into the pan.   Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes or until the peppers are cooked but slightly firm.  They should look like this.

Serve them hot or room temperature if serving them as part of a buffet.