Tuna-Cannellini Bean Salad with Feta -- Pantry Dinner, Lunch or Both

In a perfect world, someone else would make your lunch.
Do your laundry.
Grocery shopping.
Make your iced tea.
Clean out your refrigerator.
Do your taxes.
Clean the leaves out of the flower beds.
Fill your car with gas.
Take your old books to the library book sale.
Mend your favorite jeans.

But since this isn't a perfect world, you might have to cook for yourself  AND do your laundry.  But.  If you "cook" this (and there's no cooking involved), you'll skip most of the above because this yummy ditty is made mostly from pantry ingredients.  No running out to the store for fresh fish or searching the shelves for a bag of dried beans.  Of course, you'll need to have kept a few fresh veggies, etc in your frig "pantry," but here's hoping you do.

Tuna Salad (Not your Grandmother's) with Asian Dressing or How Not to be Afraid of Cooking Fish for YOU

Cook your tuna as you like...I like it fairly rare.

A piece of fish or two is a delicious, smart, economical, and healthy buy for the solo cook.  To begin with, you can buy fish by the piece.  You  not only get exactly the amount you need, but you get to pick your fish and talk to the fishmonger.   You might even get to talk to other people in line.  What are they buying?  How are they cooking it?  Ask them.  Soon they'll be asking you.

Fish inspires fear in many cooks:

• Is it fresh? (It should smell good if it's fresh.) 
• How do you cook it?  (If in doubt, drizzle with olive oil/salt/pepper,  saute/grill ten minutes per inch -5 if in sauce- and squeeze a bit of lemon on top at the table.  Some folks like salmon or tuna medium or rare.)  Unsure?  Cut it and look.  Is it opaque and or flakey (if a white fish)?  Then it's done. 
• Will it have bones?  (Make sure you have a good fillet, but still be careful.) 
• I don't know that kind of fish.  (So ask.)  Start with salmon and tuna.  They're bigger and more forgiving than skinny sole fillets..which are actually about the fastest thing in the world to cook.

To see some helpful videos about cooking fish, click here. (Free 7-day trial available.)

Shopping tip:  If you use the same place each time you buy fish, you'll come to trust them and they'll come to know you.

For the solo cook, I recommend buying two pieces of fish.  Cook them both at the same time and use the second piece for a salad or sandwich or snack the next day.  Cooked salmon is great stirred into almost done scrambled eggs; it also makes a great spread/dip.  (Mix into softened cream cheese, dill, onion, etc. and serve with bread or crackers.)  Leftovers create the need for invention and  the practice of invention makes a good cook.  When I made this salad, my husband liked it better than the original meal and said he'd eat it every week.  Interesting?

Here's the meal my tuna salad came from. I made an extra tuna steak and had enough salad for two, in fact.

I ran out of asparagus or would have used that in the salad.  Instead, I cooked a few green beans in the microwave.

Wine?  Dry riesling.  The Washington state ones might be more available than the German ones, but you can always ask.  If you can't find dry (above 10% alcohol), try any riesling and see what you think.