Mediterranean Tuna Salad on Grilled Tomato Herb Bread

lauralie41's Note:

A very tasty dish, the flavor of the tuna salad with the marinated green beans is one you just cant miss. Chilling in the refrigerator overnight is best but could be ready to serve in one to two hours.

• Total Time: 2 hrs 45 mins
• Prep Time: 45 mins
• Cook Time: 2 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 cup fresh tomato, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 1/2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 3 large garlic cloves, or to taste, finely chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil leaves
• 2 (6 ounce) cans solid white tuna packed in water
• 1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh basil, finely chopped or to taste
• 1/2 lb fresh green beans, steamed
• 1 red bell pepper, medium, seeded, sliced thinly
• 8 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
• 2 1/2 tablespoons white vinegar or 2 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon green onion, finely chopped
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• 4 slices bread, tomato herb or your choice
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated (optional)

Directions:

1. In medium mixing bowl combine diced tomato, 1 tablespoon oil, lemon juice, mustard, 2 large cloves of garlic finely chopped, and dried basil. Mix well and let stand for five minutes. Add tuna, celery, and fresh basil to tomato mixture and combine well. Cover and refrigerate for one to two hours or overnight. Stir before serving.
2. In another medium bowl, add remaining fresh basil, fresh oregano, and vinegar. Mix well and let stand for 10 minutes. Add onion and remaining garlic. Set aside.
3. Rinse fresh green beans well and snap ends off. Drop beans into medium pot of boiling water just until they begin to get tender. Drain green beans. Add drained beans, red pepper strips and cherry tomatoes to herb vinegar mixture. Mix well and refrigerate for one hour.
4. When ready to serve, drizzle olive oil on bread slices, grill lightly, and than arrange of large platter. Stir tuna salad and mound on top of grilled bread slices. Add remaining olive oil, salt and pepper to green bean mixture. Combine well and spoon green bean mixture around grilled bread slices with tuna. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese if desired.

Reviews

[FlemishMinx]

This is a truly gorgeous salad, both in appearance and in flavor. I did get a bit confused over the instructions regarding the fresh basil; in step 1 it seems to indicate that all of it is used in the tuna portion, but then in step 2 we're told to use "remaining fresh basil" in the herb vinegar; no problem, I used 1/4 cup with the tuna and 1/2 cup with the herb vinegar and it was wonderful. Don't overcook your beans (I cooked mine about 5 minutes) because you do want them crisp-tender. Served this on grilled ciabatta (sliced in half). I will be doing this again: thanks for posting!

[Kittencalskitchen]

this is one of those salads that should be sold in a fancy deli, I did some amount adjustments, this only gets better the more time it is chilled, simply delicious and one I will make again very soon, thanks for sharing Lori, this was made for the Think Pink event!

[cookiedog]

Not your ordinary tuna salad sandwich - this one goes way above! My dbf was chuckling when I told him I was making a "tuna sandwich" because how long it took me to make it. He stopped laughing when he had his first bite. Each bite offers a different flavor. I loved the herbs and green beans paired with the tuna. I used Garlic and cheese sourdough bread and broiled it in the oven. Thank you Lauralie- we loved this!