Curried Tuna Salad sandwich on toasted homemade oatmeal wheat bread

Wow, it is officially too hot to turn on the oven unless absolutely necessary. The baker part of me is sad but I guess I should blog about recipes other than just baked goods. So since I have to eat lunch, I thought I'd share my recipe for Curried Tuna Salad. I actually enjoyed a similar sandwich at a local restaurant called Shade and loved it so much I had to attempt to recreate it at home. The curry combined with the sweetness of the red grapes and the nutty toasted goodness of the walnuts is a divine way to elevate your standard tuna salad.

Before I get to the recipe, there is a funny side of tuna salad for me. I cannot make, eat, order, or even think of tuna salad without remembering (and laughing) about a very humorous childhood incident that involved tuna salad...and my oldest sister. I am hoping she'll get a kick out of me sharing this story.

Growing up, we lived in Valrico, Florida, just a little east of Brandon. My paternal grandmother (mi abuela) and my aunt Patty (my dad's sister) lived in Tampa. We would often visit both of them at my aunt's house because my grandmother would often stay with her. And we would often eat tuna salad for lunch. At the time of this incident, I was 7 or 8 which means my oldest sister was 11 or 12 and I was not particularly fond of anyone's rendition of tuna salad. Specifically because chopped pickles always seemed to end up in the mix and I had not yet acquired that taste. My sister however, had already graduated to liking pickles.

On this particular day, my grandmother made my sisters and I tuna salad sandwiches for lunch. We always sat on bar stools at the little bar area that was part of the kitchen counter (which of course kids love to do) to eat our lunch. Because I didn't like the pickles, I picked their little chopped selves one by one out of my sandwich and continued to eat. I stacked their tiny shriveled pickle bodies in a pile on a napkin next to my plate. After I had collected quite a pile, my sister asked me if I was going to eat them and I said "no" so she asked if she could have them. Of course I said yes, I sure wasn't going to eat them, and she proceeded to eat them. It wasn't until she was almost finished with the entire pile of pickles that I remembered, suddenly, with my hand clamped over my open, horrified mouth, and confessed that I had sucked each little chopped pickle to remove the tuna and mayonnaise that coated them. I do not remember if she was mad at me then (probably!) because all I can do is laugh when I think of that story now. Hopefully it brought you (and my sister - love you!) a laugh as well.

Now on to the Curried Tuna Salad recipe which low and behold, does not contain pickles (although I do like them). Recipes like these of course are not an exact science so feel free to increase or decrease the mayo, add chopped red onions, more or less curry, grapes and walnuts. The sandwich pictured was delicious.

Curried Tuna Salad with Red Grapes & Toasted Walnuts

adapted from Shade Restaurant in the Heights

2 5-ounce cans of white albacore tuna

2 tablespoons olive oil mayo (I use Hellmann's)

1 teaspoon of curry powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup red grapes, sliced in half

1/3 cup chopped toasted walnuts (I had some leftover from another recipe - I always toast extra - so I didn't have to use my oven today!)

2 slices of your favorite wheat bread, toasted

mixed greens

2 slices of tomato 

To toast walnuts, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and spread 1/2 cup of walnuts in a single layer on pan. Place pan on the middle shelf and toast walnuts for 10-12 minutes until fragrant and color has deepened slightly.

Drain tuna and empty cans into a bowl large enough to contain all ingredients. Break up the tuna chunks with a fork. Add the mayo, curry powder, and salt and mix well. Gently stir in the grapes and toasted walnuts. Cover and chill for at least one hour (because tuna salad tastes better chilled).

Toast your favorite bread and add a thin layer of mayo. Add tuna salad, mixed greens and sliced tomato. And enjoy!!