Recipe Time: Tuna Salad with Veggies

This recipe was sort of inspired by a recipe in my new Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook. I was flipping through looking for a non-diet-ruining tuna salad for lunch, and I thought "Hmm. Relish in a tuna salad. Interesting." This is my version of a veggie-filled tuna salad.

I used red bell pepper, baby carrots, and cooked frozen peas left over from last night's dinner because I had them on hand, but you can really choose any neutral or slightly sweet flavored fresh vegetables - just chop them up and toss them in!

You will need:

1/3 c. chopped red bell pepper (about half an average size pepper)
1/3 c. sliced baby carrots (I sliced them lengthwise into strips, then in half so they would mix into the salad nicely.)
1/2 c. cooked frozen peas
1.2 c. Miracle Whip (Light Miracle Whip might be better, but I didn't have any in the house)
1 tbsp sweet relish
2 tsp mustard
2 tsp honey
1 5 oz can solid white albacore in water (solid to cut down on mercury intake, canned in water to cut calories)

Mix the chopped veggies with the Miracle Whip, mustard, relish and honey. When thoroughly combined, add the [drained] tuna and mix, breaking it into pieces.

This make enough filling for three smallish sandwiches, and has only 164 calories per serving (I counted.) I had mine on Pepperidge Farm Light Style 7 Grain bread, which is my favorite so far of all the light breads I've tried - definitely worth checking out. It's also rather good on saltines.

Happy lunching!

Cure-All Ramen Noodle Soup

If you glance at the time stamp of this post, you will notice that I am writing at a rather late hour. Couldn't sleep. I'm having one of those evenings where, I woke up today feeling fine, but now I could beat my grandma in an aches-and-pains-off. And she takes those seriously (as in, once she nearly convinced me she was dying when actually she just pulled a leg muscle. So dramatic!)

Anyway. I was going to have the last piece of pie in the fridge (don't judge me) but instead settled on a recent recipe I think I invented. It miraculously made me feel better last time this happened. And it's quick and easy, because it's made with something any former college student might never want to see again: Ramen noodles.

Yes, using Oriental-flavored Ramen and some add-ins I made a wonderfully spicy, warming soup to comfort the achy-ness before bed. They're too hot to eat right this second - which is good, because otherwise I wouldn't be writing this. A girl's gotta have her priorities.

So, the recipe:

1. Set almost 2 cups of water to boil.
2. Meanwhile, gather rice vinegar (mine is infused with roasted garlic), sriracha sauce, and honey.
3. Crush your Ramen in the package.
4. When the water's boiling - well, you probably know what to do. Boil half the noodles (that's one serving according to the package, and plenty for this soup) for three minutes.
5. Once the noodles are done, add half the seasoning packet and stir. From here on out, it's a matter of personal preference. I add a generous splash of rice vinegar, a slightly lesser amount of sriracha, and about two teaspoons of honey.
6. Stir well, transfer to a cute oversized mug if you're in that kind of mood, and enjoy!

*I should note that this is a soup for the brave of palate. Sriracha is spicy, and with the vinegar and salt from the seasonings, you've got a hot dish on your hands here. If spicy isn't usually your cup of tea, go easy on the seasonings, or maybe skip the sriracha altogether.

How To Cook Everything. Wait...everything? I'm not sure I believe you.

Like many people, I tend to start the summer with a to-do list. Currently on deck? Learning how to cook. Now, don't get me wrong - I can feed myself adequately. I'm not one of those individuals who has to call their mom every time they want to hard boil an egg, or whatever. I can make some basics, and I can usually turn random ingredients out of the fridge into something halfway decent given a Google recipe search and an hour or so. 

But. Cooking this way, while it does allow me to, you know, not starve to death, generally produces results anywhere from "mediocre" to "pretty okay" on the Delicious-Food-O-Meter. 

My cooking attempts literally never turn out this appetizing. I don't even like salmon spread and green peppers, but I'm running a Google search for this recipe as I write this. Ridiculous. 

I love good food, like cooking, and wouldn't mind having some control over the healthiness of what I eat. More importantly, starting in August every other Friday my roommate and I will be responsible for making dinner for friends (the other Fridays, it's their turn.) I think it will be a nice way to relax and greet the weekend. However, as August approaches I'm feeling the pressure, because the regular dinner guests in question are two just lovely ladies who appear to be good at everything they attempt. Other potential diners included an accomplished baker, former caterer's assistant, and at least one known picky eater. STRESS. PRESSURE. I have had a few major cooking flops in my lifetime, and I'll be darned if they happen where other people have to endure them, then order pizza later when I'm not looking! 

So, between pure desire to learn, health concerns, and the major motivation (not wanting to embarrass myself) I set out to purchase a good basic cookbook. Suggestions from others included the Joy of Cooking, a Betty Crocker volume, the Timelife series of cookbooks, and Julia Child's famousThe Way to Cook. I chose none of these to begin with, for various reasons (my parents have a copy, too fattening, I don't have a free bookshelf lying around my miniscule living space, and too intimidating, in that order.) My requirements for this book were simple. It had to:

1. Be only one volume. 
2. Contain recipes for most kinds of food. So, for example: Martha Stewart's book on appetizers, while fascinating, would not be quite right. 
3. Rely heavily on quality ingredients and produce. Not one of those how-to-turn-six-canned-goods-into-a-casserole deals. 
4. Have reasonable recipes. Ones that don't require exotic ingredients, six hours of your day devoted to a single dish, weird appliances, etc. (Ahem. Julia.)

And after careful consideration, I ended up with...

Image from Amazon.com

I'd heard good things about this one - loved his column in the New York Times - so I took a look. His intro emphasized that everyday cooking doesn't need to take forever, tastes better than takeout, and truly isn't rocket science. Yeah! I can learn to cook too! I felt encouraged. My initial impression is one of a volume with more fresh, appetizing recipes than I know what to do with, and very descriptive simple instructions. Oh, and reasonable cooking times. So if a recipe doesn't work out, at least the schedule damage will be minimal. 

Time to get cooking!