Not Your Mom's Tuna Noodle Casserole

A while back, a company called Safe Catch sent me some lovely cans of tuna.

Have I ever mentioned that when I was a kid, I didn't know that tuna could come in any form except cans? I mean, I knew what fish was. We went fishing and ate what we caught. But the little mom-and-pop grocery store where my mom shopped didn't have fresh tuna.

Or, if I'm being honest, they didn't have any fresh fish at all. There might have been some breaded fish filets in the freezer case, but nothing as exotic as tuna. Or salmon. Or pretty much anything except cod.

These days, I can appreciate a nice tuna tartare or a seared raw tuna., but I still like canned tuna for tuna salad or for a tuna casserole. Because, seriously, tuna casserole is pure comfort food.

Not Your Mom's Tuna Casserole

4 tablespoons butter
1 onion, diced
1 rib celery, diced
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 can Safe Catch Tuna
6 ounces egg noodles or your preferred noodle, cooked barely al dente
4 slices muenster cheese

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and have an 8-inch baking dish standing by.

Melt the butter in a skillet and add the onion, celery and mushrooms. Cook until the vegetables are cooked through and all of the liquid exuded from the vegetables has disappeared.

Add the flour and stir. Cook, stirring for a minute or two, then add the milk. Stir to combine, then let it come to a boil, stirring. It will thicken.

Add the tuna and stir to combine. Break up the tuna enough so that it is well distributed, but don't let it break up so much that you no longer have pieces. Fold in the noodles, then mix in the mayonnaise.

Transfer the mixture to an 8-inch square baking dish and top with the cheese.

Place the baking dish in the oven and bake at 350 degrees until the mixture is boiling and the cheese is melted. It's perfectly fine if the cheese browns a little in spots.

Serve warm.

I received product at no cost to me, but I wasn't obligated to write about it. I just happened to be hungry.

Tuna in the Style of Lobster Roll

I grew up eating canned tuna, and it was pretty much either a tuna salad sandwich or tuna noodle casserole.

And the tuna in the can was pretty much always the same, too. I don't know if that was because mom purposely bought the same tuna every time, whether all the brands were that similar, or whether there weren't a lot of choices at the time.

So when the folks at Wild Planet Foods offered to send me some of their canned tuna, I was pretty sure I would like it. I didn't dislike the tuna I'd been eating for decades, so I didn't expect this one to be very different.

When I opened the first can from Wild Tuna, I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. It looked a whole heck of a lot better than what I was used to.

Since then, I've used a few different cans that I got from Wild Planet - every one they sent was different - and I've liked all of them so far. Because the quality was better than the average canned tuna, I decided that it deserved better treatment in a sandwich.

Instead of making a mixed, mashed and combined tuna salad that was heavy with mayonnaise, I left the tuna in larger chunks, and dressed it lightly with the mayonnaise.

Tuna in the Style of Lobster Roll

1 tablespoon diced onion
2 teaspoons sweet pickle relish or diced sweet pickle
1 large pimento-stuffed green olive, diced
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or as desired)
1 5-ounce can Wild Planet tuna, drained

Combine the onion, relish, green olive and mayonnaise in a small bowl. Stir to combine. Add the tuna and mix gently to coat the tuna without breaking it up too much.

This makes enough for two hearty sandwiches. Lobster rolls are typically served on hot dog buns, but this is also great on any sandwich bread you like. Lettuce and tomato are nice additions, but it's great without anything added.

This isn't just for sandwiches, though. It would be good as a salad on top of greens, or scooped onto half of an avocado.

About Wild Planet

Mercury is a big concern in tuna, and the folks at Wild Planet have figured out (after a lot of testing) that smaller, younger tuna caught near the surface are safer than larger, older, deep-dwelling tuna - so they've been buying pole- and line-caught younger fish since the company was founded in 2001.

Besides tuna, the company also sells a variety of other seafood in cans, pouches, and jars as well as canned roasted chicken.

For more information, check out Wild Planet Foods online.

I received tuna at no cost to me. I wasn't required to create a recipe.

Whole Foods Friday: Two Tuna Salads

When I was growing up, the only tuna I was familiar with came in a can and was incredibly inexpensive. Most of it went into tuna noodle casserole.

It was quite a while later that I discovered fresh tuna.

And even longer before I found out that all canned tuna isn't bargain-basement stuff. The better-quality tuna has great flavor without being "fishy." It tastes like tuna should. I picked up one small 6.7-ounce jar of tuna and used it to make two completely different dishes.

First up was a composed salad reminiscent of the nicoise salad.

I really like composed salads like this. You can nibble at the bits you like, taste different combinations together, and make the salad a lovely shared dish that you can take your time over.

Once you have the components for this salad prepared, you can arrange them on one large plate, or on multiple smaller plates. This can be an appetizer, first course, or light lunch. It can be served as is, or made a little more substantial with the addition of some crusty bread and butter or some crackers and an array of cheeses.

Homage to Nicoise 
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.

1 small bunch asparagus
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 pound baby potatoes, cooked and chilled
1/2 cup olives
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 6.7-ounce jar tuna in oil
Olive oil, as needed
Large flake salt

Trim the tough ends off the asparagus, then steam until tender, but still some crispness. As soon as it's done, plunge it into ice water to stop the cooking and keep the vibrant green color.

Arrange the asparagus on a plate and drizzle with the lemon juice.

The potatoes I used were very small - one bite each. If your potatoes are larger, cut them in half or into quarters. Arrange them on the plate as well.

Cut the tomatoes in half and arrange them with the olives, and then add the tuna to the plate.

Drizzle the potatoes with a bit of olive oil (if you like, you can use some of the oil from the tuna).

Sprinkle large flake salt over the plate, as desired.

Old-School Tuna Salad
Recipe © by www.cookistry.com. Do not republish without permission.
Since the tuna was so flavorful, I decided to use the rest of the jar to make tuna salad. You could use this for sandwiches or serve it on a lettuce leaf. Or serve a small scoop on top of an avocado half for a particularly decadent dish. This would also be nice as an appetizer on crackers with a garnish of chives or chopped pickles.

2 hard boiled eggs, peeled
1 shallot, diced
1 teaspoon capers
1 teaspoon sweet relish
1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/2 6.7-ounce jar tuna in oil

Cut the eggs into small chunks and place in a small bowl. Add the shallot, capers, relish, and 1 tablespoon mayonnaise. Stir to combine.

Add the tuna, and if you like, a little bit of the oil - it has a lot of flavor. Stir gently to combine, but try to keep the tuna in larger chunks. If you think it needs more mayonnaise, add another tablespoon.

Serve.