During the summer and early fall, our dinners are oriented towards using as much CSA produce as possible. However, there are those Sunday and Monday nights when the fridge is bare (since our CSA pickup day is Tuesday), or worse, all we have left are green beans. Green beans are unfortunately a staple of our CSA share, and I am usually at a loss as to what to do with them besides eat them raw or shock them and sprinkle on some pepper. If anyone has any good vegetarian green bean recipes, please pass them along!
Anyway, when we don't have any CSA produce handy, my mom's tuna pasta salad is a perfect summer dinner. It's best if you chill it for at least an hour so that the flavors can blend together and the pasta is cold, but it can be eaten immediately if you're too hungry to wait. My mom's original recipe calls for 1 cup of Miracle Whip, but I use 1/2 cup of mayonnaise instead.
- 8 ounces medium shell pasta
- 5 ounce can of tuna in water, drained and flaked
- 1 cup diced celery (about 3 medium ribs)
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup sweet pickle relish
- 2 tablespoons finely diced onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse with cold water.
Meanwhile, combine remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. Add pasta. Cover salad and chill for at least one hour before serving.
