Tuna and Chickpea Salad

 

This recipe is from Skinnytaste.com.  It's full of flavor.  Perfect for lunch or a light dinner.  It's a new take on the same old, same old tuna salad and can be whipped up in a jiffy with ingredients you most likely have on hand.  Even hubby liked it and he's a devoted tuna + mayo fan.  I added some chopped roasted red peppers but they're optional

Ingredients:

1 (6 ounce) can tuna in water, drained
1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, drained
2 tablespoons red onion, chopped
2 tablespoons capers plus two tablespoons of the brine
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Roasted red peppers, chopped - optional

Drain and rinse chickpeas and add to bowl.

 

Drain tuna and add to chickpeas

 

Add in capers and their brine. 

 Add in chopped red onion.

Add in red peppers if using and vinegar.  Mix well.

Serve on a bed of lettuce if desired.

Coming July 6!  Book #2 in the Open Book Series

Writer-in-residence Penelope Parish will need to use every trick in her quaint British bookshop to unravel a murderous plot that threatens to ruin a ducal wedding.

The wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Upper Chumley-on Stoke has all the makings of a fairy tale, complete with a glowing bride and horse-drawn carriage. But it wouldn't be much of a story without a villain, and as American Gothic novelist Penelope Parish is coming to learn, happy-ever-afters are as fraught in this charming British town as they are in her books.

When the Duke's former girlfriend is found murdered at the reception it's up to Penelope and her newfound family at the Open Book bookshop to catch the killer before they strike again.

AMAZON
BARNES & NOBLE

Murder in the Margins has everything: England * Charming town * Book shop * Writer-in-residence * Royalty * Cute detective * Murder!

 

The plot thickens for American gothic writer Penelope Parish when a murder near her quaint British bookshop reveals a novel's worth of killer characters.

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Grilled Tuna on Salad with Ginger Dressing #recipe @PegCochran

Since I am doing Weight Watchers at the moment, I am always on the lookout for light recipes. And even if you aren't dieting, this makes a lovely and very satisfying warm weather dinner or lunch.  I am still getting the hang of grilling fresh tuna--I would have liked it to have been a bit more rare than you'll see in the pictures, but I'm getting there!  This recipe can be adapted to include what you like in the salad--I had some edamame that I wanted to use up so I threw that in!

3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 Tbsp, fresh, minced ginger root or paste from a jar

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1 Tbsp dark brown sugar

2 tsp, toasted variety sesame oil

¼ cup mayonnaise (low fat if desired)

2 Tbsp, warm water

1 tsp,  sriracha chili sauce or to taste (optional)

1 pound tuna steak  

4 cups mixed greens

2 cups halved grape tomatoes

1 cup shredded carrots

¹⁄₂  medium, thinly sliced cucumber

4 chopped scallions

Whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, garlic, sugar and oil; remove 3 tablespoons to a cup and reserve. 

Place tuna in a dish and pour remaining soy sauce mixture over top of tuna.  Cover and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to four hours.  

Light grill and let heat to 350 to 400 degrees.  Cook tuna to desired doneness—approximately 3 to 4 minutes per side for medium rare.  Slice thinly across the grain.

Add mayonnaise, water, salt and sriracha to reserved soy sauce mixture.  

Combine lettuce, tomatoes, carrots and cucumber in a large serving bowl; drizzle with reserved dressing. Top with tuna; garnish with scallions.  

AMAZON

BARNES & NOBLE

An intrepid 1930s Manhattan socialite uncovers deadly secrets during an assignment to the Hamptons in this riveting historical cozy mystery for readers of Victoria Thompson, Anne Perry, and Rhys Bowen.

Westhampton, 1938. To the dismay of her well-to-do family, Elizabeth “Biz” Adams is quickly establishing herself as a seasoned photographer over at the Daily Trumpet. Growing more confident in her decision to pursue a career, Elizabeth is thrilled when she and her reporter sidekick, Ralph Kaminsky, are sent to Long Island to cover the story of a young maid found dead in one of the glamourous summer homes in the devastating aftermath of the Great New England Hurricane—also known as the Long Island Express.

At first it’s assumed that the young woman was caught in the terrible storm, but when a suspicious wound is found on the side of her head, the police suspect murder. The maid’s death becomes even more tragic when it’s discovered she was pregnant, and with Elizabeth and Kaminsky at the scene of the crime, the Daily Trumpet scoops all the other papers in town.

The young woman’s boyfriend emerges as the likeliest suspect. But as Elizabeth follows the story, she begins to wonder whether someone in the household of the maid’s employers might be responsible—someone who’ll stop at nothing to keep the truth about the baby’s paternity hidden.

Two Ingredient Joy by Cleo Coyle

A simple post with a delicious idea. Not new, of course. You may have tried it already. If not, I invite you to share my two ingredient joy.

The first ingredient is mayonnaise.

The second is...

Sriracha Chili Sauce! 

"OH NO," YOU MAY SAY.

"THAT'S TOO HOT FOR ME!

Cleo Coyle has a partner in 

crime-writing—her husband.

Learn about their books

by clicking here or here.

I thought so, too, until I controlled the heat in recipes like this one. Using mayonnaise (or yogurt), you can create the most delightful dipping sauces for boiled or fried shrimp, french fries, and raw veggies like cauliflower, carrots, and celery sticks. 

Use a small amount of the chili sauce for a wonderful smoky flavor. Increase the chili sauce for more heat. And that's it!

Well, almost.

You can always mix the pretty pink mayo with other ingredients to create something like my recent lunch below...

CLEO'S SPICY TUNA SALAD 

WITH RICE CRACKERS

Cleo's Spicy Tuna Salad

2 Tablespoons mayonnaise

1/2 teaspoon Sriracha chili sauce

1 can of tuna, drained (5 oz.)

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon dill relish

Directions: Mix mayo and sriracha sauce to create the spicy mayo. Combine with remaining ingredients. I eat it on rice crackers, but you may prefer it on bread or a roll. However you like it, may you...

☕

Eat (and read) with joy!

~ Cleo Coyle

New York Times bestselling author
of The Coffeehouse Mysteries &
Haunted Bookshop Mysteries

Alice and Marc in Central Park. 

Together we write as Cleo Coyle. 

Learn more about us here.
Friend us on facebook here.
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Visit our online coffeehouse here. 

A "Best Book of 2018!" 

~ Suspense Magazine

"A magnificent cold case 

mystery." ~ Fresh Fiction

"He is hardboiled in the tradition
of Philip Marlowe, and she is a genteel
Miss Marple; yet the two opposites
make an explosive combination..."

—Midwest Book Review

To learn more, visit our
online Haunted Bookshop
by clicking here.

☕

Our NEW Coffeehouse Mystery!

Amazon * B&N

IndieBound * BAM

"A gripping and entertaining mystery"

--Library Journal (Starred Review) 

*

"Penetrating insights" --Kirkus Reviews 

*

"Sure to delight" --Publishers Weekly

☕

This culinary mystery includes
25 delicious recipes! To get the
Free Recipe Guide, click here.

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Tuna Curry with Rice

In a universe far far away (that is, my starving student days) I had a paperback James Beard cookbook with a great recipe for Curried Tuna, which was inexpensive, easy to make (1 pan) and tasty. I have no idea where that cookbook went. 

Currently I’ve got so much going on in my life that I seldom have time to shop for food (usually butter!), so I’ve been scrounging meals from what I have on hand.

By some miracle, I have all the ingredients for tuna curry, mostly canned tuna and rice and nice things like coconut milk. Hooray, I can eat!

Curried Tuna with Rice

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked rice

1/4 cup butter (if you’re using tuna packed in oil, you can use the oil as well)

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 garlic cloves (I like to use a garlic press)

1/2 tsp salt

1 Tblsp curry powder* 

1/4 cup flour

2 cups milk or coconut milk (canned)

1 can (6 oz.) tuna (or use two cans if it looks skimpy)

*There is no such thing as a single curry flavor—if you have one you like, go with that. It’s also hard to decide how much to use, so taste as you go.

My favorite curry powder

Instructions:

Start your rice cooking (I discovered years ago that a microwave does this very nicely. The basic ratio of rice to liquid is 1:2, and on medium microwave temperature it takes about 15 minutes to cook If you have a favorite way of cooking rice, use that.)

In a saute pan, melt the butter or use the oil from the tuna (or combine the two), heat over low or medium heat, and saute the onion and garlic (and you can add another vegetable if you want), When they are soft, add the salt and curry powder and continue to cook for a few more minutes.

Add the flour to the cooked vegetable and stir until the flour is evenly distributed and has absorbed the butter/oil. Still over medium heat, add milk or coconut milk to cover the vegetables and stir until smooth. When the sauce has begun to thicken, add the rest of the milk/coconut milk and blend (the sauce will continue to thicken). Keep stirring to prevent lumps!

Add the drained tuna and bring the mixture to a simmer.

When the rice is cooked, fluff with a fork. Place a serving of rice in a bowl and add the tuna curry on top. Serve with a green vegetable if you want (this provides nice color contrast).

So you can see that this is a quick, savory dish for a cold winter night. The flavor improves with age, in case you make too much for one meal.

Other Burgers

by Sheila Connolly

Here we are in full summer, and farmers' markets are bursting with goodies. It’s often too hot to cook inside, so across the nation barbecues are turning out wonderful smells of cooking meats, chicken, and even vegetables. Life is good.

But don’t you ever get tired of the same-old-same-old hamburgers and hotdogs? And our government keeps telling us that we have to cook our beef all the way through (per the Food Network, “Because E. coli is killed at 155 degrees Fahrenheit, the USDA sets the minimum safe temperature for ground beef at 160 degrees Fahrenheit. We can only second this.), or risk dire consequences. The pundits on newscasts are saying, literally, “cook your beef until it is gray.” I respect the threat of various nasty bacteria, but I don’t want to eat gray meat. I’d rather do without.

But there are other options! I’m presenting two here, with a nod at Mark Bittman (who puts out too many darned good recipes). You do need a food processor to make these work, unless you really, really love chopping things very fine.

[Disclaimer: these recipes make four burgers. Since it’s only my husband and me around to eat them these days, I made half-recipes, and that’s what the pictures show.]

Lamburgers

1-1/2 pounds boneless lamb (whatever cut you can get, or can afford)

1 small onion

1 Tblsp garlic, chopped

2 Tblsp parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Trim as much fat as you can from the lamb, as well as the “squiggly bits” as my daughter used to call them. Cut the lamb and the onion into coarse chunks (or if you don’t want a strong onion flavor, use shallots). Put everything in the food processor and pulse just until the meat is ground (do not just leave the food processor on or you will end up with lamb paste).

Before...

...and after

Shape the meat into burgers and grill, turning once, for 4-8 minutes total. If you like, you can top them with feta cheese.

Or for something completely different: Tunaburgers!

1-1/2 pounds tuna (fresh, not canned!)

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp mayonnaise

1 Tblsp capers, drained

Salt and pepper to taste

Cut the tuna into large chunks. Put a quarter of the total amount in the food processor along with the mustard, mayonnaise and capers. Process until the mixture becomes pasty (this time you’re supposed to!). Add the rest of the tuna and pulse until the fish is chopped and well mixed (but don’t over-process).

Shape into four burgers. The cooking is a smidge more complicated, because (a) there is no fat in the fish, and (b) you want to cook these quickly over high heat to sear the outside while leaving the inside rare. Brush the burgers with oil and grill over high heat, turning once, about 4-6 minutes total.

This might work well with salmon too—I’ll try that next.

Yes, there's another Orchard Mystery, Picked to Die,  coming out on October 7th, and this one's about Meg's second harvest in Granford (nice timing, debuting in October, right in the middle of the harvest season, don't you think?).

But there may be another ebook sneaking into September: Seeing the Dead, a sequel to Relatively Dead (2013). No cover or blurb yet, so stay tuned!