White Bean & Tuna Salad

This is a nice light salad that is great for summer.  It works perfectly for either lunch or dinner. (Or a mid afternoon snack.  Does anybody else religiously eat a snack around 3 p.m. or is that just me?)  We really liked eating it in pita pockets with a little bit of lettuce, but you could use it as a veggie dip, eat it with crackers, make it into a wrap, toss it onto a tortilla with some cheese for a quesadilla...the possibilities are endless!

White Bean & Tuna Salad

Number of Servings: 6 to 8
Time to Prepare: 20 minutes

• 1/2 cup chopped red onions
• 3 Tbsp lemon juice, divided
• 3 (5 oz) cans of tuna, drained
• 2 (15 oz) cans of Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
• 3 Tbsp dried parsley or 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup salsa
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• salt and olive oil to taste

In a small bowl, sprinkle the red onions with some of lemon juice and let sit for 5 minutes (this will tone down the 'bite' of the onion a bit).

In a medium mixing bowl, toss the tuna and beans together gently.  Add the parsley, salsa, remaining lemon juice, lemon zest, and pepper.  Mix to combine.  Add salt to taste.  If the salad seems a bit dry, add in some olive oil.  (You can also add more lemon juice to taste if desired.)

Serve in pita pockets with some lettuce (or however you want).  This salad is great served right away, but is also really good after being refrigerated a few hours (or overnight) when the flavors have really had a chance to meld.

Source: slightly adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
Produce Used: Red onion, lemon, parsley