Hot Tuna Salad

I think we need to go shopping for some fridge-and-pantry basics. I just have an aversion to spending money sometimes, so when we run out of something I decide that we'll just do without it for as long as possible. So we don't have much in the way of meats lately - we "ran out" of ground beef and ground turkey long ago; right now we have some chicken leg quarters in the freezer, and a small variety of canned meats in the cabinet. Kinda limits our meal choices, I think. But it does make a fun challenge when deciding what to make for dinner!

This recipe is adapted from the Southern Plate cookbook. The original recipe was for Hot Chicken Salad, but I didn't want to go through the trouble of cooking up several thighs and drumsticks just to make a chicken salad. So I substituted tuna for the chicken, and made a couple other substitutions and omissions, and here's what we came up with for dinner last night. I have to say, I think this turned out absolutely fabulous! This was the best tuna salad I've ever made.


Hot Tuna Salad
4 cans chunk light tuna, drained
1/3 to 1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup mayonnaise
2 large stalks celery, chopped
2 T minced onion
2-3 tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1-3 cups crushed chips (potato, or we used tortilla)

Combine all except cheese and chips in a 3-quart casserole (I used my Pyrex pie dish). Top with cheese and chips. Bake at 350 for 15-25 minutes, or until cheese is melted and celery is tender.

Since this was tuna salad, we had to have a bread to go with it. I pulled out my recipe for quick and easy pizza dough and made a simple flat bread.

Flat Bread
2 1/4 tsp. yeast
1 1/4 cups warm water
2 tbsp. oil
1 tsp. salt
3 1/2 to 4 cups flour

Combine all ingredients. Let rise 15-30 minutes (I started this just after putting the salad in the oven, so it was rising while the salad was baking). Spread onto greased and cornmealed 9x13 pan. Brush lightly with oil, and sprinkle with garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning. Bake at 425 (I turned up the oven after taking out the tuna salad) for 12-20 minutes, until lightly browned.


The combination of the Hot Tuna Salad with the Flat Bread ended up tasting very similar to a simple tuna melt, but just a bit fancier. We all thoroughly enjoyed this delicious meal. I would love to try the hot salad with chicken, like in the original recipe. Oh, I bet that would be so good!