My Mother’s Tuna Salad Recipe

My mom was a lot of things. Smart, funny, caring, and kind. But she wasn’t a good cook. She worked full-time as an immunization nurse for Allegheny County until she retired, several years after I graduated from college. With twelve kids, it’s no surprise that she didn’t have time (or money) to make beef wellington, lasagna, or clam chowder. But one of the meals she made with regularity was tuna salad. I like to think she took out her daily frustration while she smashed the packed tuna with a fork or while she diced the eggs while trying to curb the chaos going on around her in our tiny yellow kitchen with the frilly curtains. But the reality was, tuna salad was practical. Canned tuna was a cheap, easy-to-fix, inexpensive meal.

The tuna salad of my youth was canned tuna in oil, a large spoonful of Miracle Whip, diced egg, chopped celery, or celery salt when we didn’t have celery, and occasionally a little dollop of sweet relish if memory serves me right. For years I ate that tuna salad (minus the egg and relish) on whole wheat.

When I managed The Wooden Spoon restaurant in the 90s, my taste evolved. Though, I served a variation of my mother’s tuna salad to my customers, excluding the egg. My preference was a scoop of tuna in water with the tiniest amount of mayo, just to bind, three slices of pickled jalapeno, and a huge tomato slice on a toasted everything bagel.

These days, I buy canned tuna packed in water or its own liquid. Once again, my taste for tuna evolved. But every time I open a can or pouch of tuna, I’m reminded of Mom, and that’s all that matters.

Mom’s Tuna Salad Recipe, Elevated
Serves 2

Ingredients

• 6 ounces albacore tuna in water
• ¼ of sweet bell pepper (I used yellow because that’s what I had in the fridge), chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 3 tablespoons diced cucumber, peeled and seeded
• Several cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 teaspoon champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more if desired
• Dash of Kosher salt
• Fresh ground black pepper
• 1 green onion, green only, chopped
• Fennel sprigs, ferns only chopped, plus whole for garnish (optional)

Directions

1. In a small bowl, flake apart the tuna with a fork. Smash it up if you’re having a day. *winks
2. Add the chopped vegetables and the chopped fennel sprig. Stir with a light hand to maintain the chunks of the tuna, unless you smashed it up!
3. Drizzle vinegar and oil over the tuna. Stir and add more oil if desired, a little a time. You want the oil to lightly coat and bind the ingredients, not overwhelm, but hey, it’s your tuna salad.
4. Season the salad with a dash of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.
5. Scoop tuna salad into small bowls over mixed greens, or serve it on a toasted everything bagel.