Italian Tuna and White Bean Salad
Spending time in Mallorca is always a delight. The weather, the fresh produce, the local fish and the incredible clean sea air. I’ve been lucky to spend multiple summers here. This one particular night I was invited to a friend’s home and she prepared such a beautiful lunch with the backdrop being the mountains, the water and plentiful local wine.
One of the delicious things she made was a simple salad of white beans, fresh parsley, tuna, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. So easy, so delicious. The flavors were complex but still simple in execution. The parsley added such a vibrant punch to the oil packed tuna. Not to mention, it is perfectly gluten free (and dairy free) by nature!
After returning home I knew I wanted to recreate this lovely and simple salad. A handful of ingredients, cook the beans from scratch if you’d like or get them canned! It’s quite a quick throw together that can last in your fridge a day or two.
I hope you enjoy this salad as much as I do~ just be sure to get the best quality oil packed tuna you can, it makes all the difference.
Italian Tuna, White Bean and Parsley Salad
Gluten Free, Dairy Free
Serves: 2-3 as a main course, 4-5 as a side
Prep Time: 10 minutes
- 1 ½ c. cooked white beans (white kidney beans or butter beans)
- ½ c. minced parsley
- 1 c. packed, roughly chopped baby kale or baby spinach
- 2 T. olive oil
- 2 t. balsamic vinegar
- 2 t. white balsamic vinegar
- pinch of sea salt (about 1 t.)
- zest from ½ lemon
- 1 jar oil packed Italian tuna fillets (my favorite brand is Tonnino)
- *optional-2 t. red stamp pepper or crushed red pepper
Directions
- Place the cooked beans, minced parsley, chopped baby kale, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, white balsamic vinegar, pinch of sea salt and lemon zest. Add the red stamp pepper if using.
- Toss gently to coat and taste for seasoning. Adjust with either more olive oil or more vinegar.
- Gently remove the tuna fillets from the jar (I find a fork useful for this) and loosely chunk the tuna. Stir once or twice to incorporate into the bean-greens mixture and then serve.
happy, healthy eating! ~kendra
