Chickpea Salad with Tuna

It's so bloody hot. Hot winds, hot sun, hot humidity. It's too hot to cook, too hot to eat. "Cold" dinners are always salads, cereal, sandwiches. Just making these in the hot, hot kitchen cause sweat to bead up. Days like this need a dinner prepared first thing in the am and ready by dinner.. something refreshing, cool. What better way to cool off than with a nice cold Mediterranean Tuna Salad.

Modifications Made:

Albacore tuna is a trend in food because it's healthier than regular tuna. It's also more expensive, dry, and lacking in flavor. Instead of plain albacore tuna, the recipe was split. One can albacore, one can regular. Not three cans, but two and both in water not oil.

Red onion was omitted nor was it replaced with any other onion. Parsley was omitted. Grapeseed oil replaced olive oil. Only 1/2 of lemon and lemon zest were used.

One cucumber is vague as cucumbers are all different sizes. The current cuc in use was over 16" long. It didn't even fit in the crisper drawer. Using the red bell pepper as a basis, I matched the cuc to the amount of pepper. Roughly about one cup each.

Scaled for Likeness: Great

Not only was this meal tasty it was super quick and easy to make. The whole ensemble took less than 10 minutes make. It was refreshing, cold, and had a wonderful mixture of textures. Best yet, it paired well with chip and salsa on the side. Not quite a T&T meal as I would not want to eat this in winter but it will be served again before summer's end.

But....

There is always a but. This non mayo tuna salad was everything I was hoping it would be. However, not even with the third can of tuna it would not serve 10 people. As made it barely served three people, one who is an non eating teen table counterpart. If it had not been for chips and salsa there would have been fighting for the last half cup serving. Luckily, dessert had already been planned so leaving the table with a slight hunger was okay. Mediterranean Tuna Salad is good the recipe needs to be doubled so there are leftovers for lunch.

Better Than Campbell's Old Fashion Vegetable Soup

Went to the store with the hopes of gathering fresh produce for soup. With more than 45 people in line for two packages of any meat product and the produce section containing only avocado, orange, and most randomly, strawberries, I settled upon canned soup. Well not canned soup since that section was still void of food, too. Instead soup made from canned goods as the canned vegetable section had been mostly restocked. Soups like this 15 Minute Vegetable Soup are ideal in dire food situations such as current times. Modifications Made: Plain petite diced tomatoes omitted, frozen carrots instead of canned, green beans and corn undrained, peas omitted (gross, nasty little pods), one cup celery, three cups diced potatoes, one can tomato sauce, two beef and two pollo de tomate bouillon cubes, six cups water. Once onions were softened, carrots/celery/potatoes/juice of green beans and corn, sauce, bouillon cubes, water were added and allowed to simmer until carrots almost tender. Green be

Sour Cream & Chive Scalloped Potatoes

Can't believe the Month of the Potato is over. There are so many more potato recipes saved. Guess I will have to work them into another month. Last week's scalloped potatoes were one of the best new recipes during the month of potatoes. With today being the last day in the Month of Potatoes, I decided to go out with a bang by cooking another batch of scalloped potatoes but this time sour cream and chive. The Best Scalloped Potatoes , or so they said. Modifications Made: Recipe was reduced by half. Mayo was omitted and one entire package of chives were chopped and added to sauce before pouring onto layers. Scaled for Likability: Good Betty Crocker Sour Cream and Chive Box Scalloped Potatoes were the standard for this recipe. These were a family favorite for years but have long since been discounted. Bummer. Trying to replicate this seemed easy enough. Alas, it was not. These had a nice texture but were too oily from the cheese and did not contain enough onion, garlic,

Papas a La Mexicana (Ranchera)

It is a crying shame that there are six hens and not a egg in sight. What am I supposed to do with homemade ranchero sauce? Thankfully with a few quick searches of the internet a recipe from my hometown newspaper was discovered: Papas Ranchera . Not once in the thirty years I lived in my hometown did I ever eat at a local food joint serving papas rancheras. No time like the present to remedy this cultural dish. Because this recipe is hidden behind a paywall (grrr...) I have included it here for you: Servings: 4-6 Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, diced 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/2 large onion 1 1/2 medium tomatoes 3 jalapenos 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup juice from canned tomatoes Instructions: Fry potatoes in vegetable oil until lightly browned (about 4-6 minutes). Saute onions, tomatoes, jalapenos until soft. Add garlic powder and salt. Add tomato juice until vegetables are covered (may need to add water). Bring to a boil and then add potatoes. Cover and reduc

Eating Waffles

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