I am pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I love to cook up big batches of something to eat throughout the week. Of course at some point I start to get sick of what I cook, but I try to make dishes I can happily eat for a while. I liked making this pasta salad since it had fish (very good for you) and had a light citrusy zing.
There is one weird thing about this recipe… its based off a recipe I found on the Atkin’s website. Now not to judge Atkin’s, or the fine folks who are on that diet, but how on earth does a pasta salad fit under that Atkin’s diet no-carb philosophy? Just curious is all…
Now a quick tuna note. The original recipe calls for tuna packed in oil. I don’t buy that stuff. I like to use “Solid White Albacore in Water.” I feel like canned tuna can be a polarizing food, and I fall strongly into the “Solid White Albacore in Water” camp. If you fall into the packed in oil camp, go with what you like. Besides, it’s you eating this recipe now, not me.
Pasta Salad with Tuna, Capers and Lemon – 1 Knife (Adapted from Atkin’s)
Ingredients:
- 8 oz dry bowtie pasta (measured to about 4 cups dry)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 12 oz can of tuna
- ¼ red onion
- 1 3.5 oz jar capers
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Prep:
- Put a large pot of water over high heat. Once the water is boiling cook the pasta according to the directions.
- Once the pasta is cooked and strained in a colander run cold water over the pasta to stop it from cooking.
- Cut the red onion into a small dice and set aside.
- Open the can of tuna and strain out the water or oil and set aside the tuna.
- Squeeze two tablespoons of lemon juice into a small bowl and remove the seeds, set aside. Do this step after step 6. WordPress had some formatting issues and so I had to put this step first to keep things looking pretty-ish.
- To make the lemon zest simply rub the skin of a lemon on a plane grater and set aside. If you do not have a grater/zester, do the following alternative:
1) Using a paring knife carefully slice some of the yellow lemon rind off of the lemon to get about a 1 inch patch of rind.
2) On a cutting board cut the rind into long, very thin strips, about 1-2 millimeters wide.
3) Then cut those strips into tiny pieces by cutting down the length of the strips.
Cook:
- In a large bowl combine the pasta and olive oil and toss to coat.
- Add to the bowl the tuna, onions, the capers and their juices, the lemon juice and the lemon rind.
- Stir the salad until it is well mixed.
- Sprinkle the salt and pepper into the salad and stir again to mix, serve and enjoy!
