Tuna And Mixed Bean Salad

I am not a fan of salad; it’s boring and, quite frankly, not very appetising. Definitely not my idea of a tasty meal; all that leafy green stuff plonked on a plate with a few tomatoes, half a dozen slices of cucumber and a couple of pieces of pork pie; but Paul enjoys them and, surprisingly, so do Harry and Joey. However, when the weather is hot and I really don’t want to be cooking and eating a huge, stodgy dinner it is the preferable option. On this particular sweltering day I was really fancying tuna but I didn’t want it with pasta or jacket potatoes which are our regular choices. Neither did I want it mixing with sweetcorn or mayonnaise. I did consider, for a brief moment, Paul’s suggestion of eating it straight from the tin like Joey does, but then it wouldn’t be a proper meal and he’d pick at rubbish throughout the evening. So I took a peek in the fridge. One onion, half a punnet of cherry tomatoes, three sweet peppers and a couple of sorry looking baby gem lettuces I’d overlooked because I thought they were sweetheart cabbages. I shredded the lettuce into a salad bowl and was about to add the chopped up tomatoes when I remembered I had several tins of mixed beans lurking at the back of the pantry. So instead of tossing everything in with the lettuce I added a tin of beans to the diced onion, peppers and tomatoes to make up a mixed bean salad. At which point my mind slipped into overdrive and I wondered what else I could add along with the tuna to make a more substantial meal. I resorted to the internet and as soon as I entered the words tuna and salad up popped umpteen recipes for Tuna Niçoise, all of which were basically variations on what I had thrown together with the addition of cooked potatoes and hard boiled eggs. As I waited for the potatoes and eggs to cook I set about making the dressing. I found the recipe here and was quite surprised how easy it was and luckily I had all the ingredients on hand since I had bought some lemons last time I went shopping. I did omit the mustard as I’m not to keen on the stuff. Once I had everything prepared it was time to plate it all up, starting with the lettuce then adding the rest of the ingredients in layers and topping it all off with the quartered eggs. Rather than drizzle the dressing over the salad I left it in the jar so we could add as much or little as we preferred. I have to say it made a tasty and filling meal which; despite having gone a little overboard with the lettuce; we both enjoyed. Will have to try a different lettuce next time as we found the baby gem had quite a peppery taste to it.