Canned tuna is the ultimate It Girl.
She’s consistent, reliable, relatively cheap (although honestly what does that even mean these days?!), readily available, versatile, and a staple in my pantry.
At any given moment, I keep three cans of tuna in the pantry. Through much trial and error over the 15 years that I’ve lived in New York, I have learned that buying things in threes is the extent that one can “stock up.”
Keeping one can of tuna in the pantry is the move of a psychopath, and two cans leaves something to be desired. Keeping four cans of tuna in the pantry will always result in one can hitting me squarely in the eye every time the cabinet opens no matter how many times the cabinet is reorganized.
So, I’ve enacted a three-can rule.
I know plenty of people who swear by canned tuna packed in water (hi, mom!) but I’m an olive oil-packed girl. To me, it has more flavor and also results in a tenderer fish. Cento, Sea Tales, and even Starkist are great brands, but nothing compares to my LOVE for Fishwife’s albacore tuna in spicy olive oil. Fishwife = luxurious (and sustainable) tinned fish.
Fishwife also makes a lot of other great tinned fish I love including but not limited to anchovies, smoked salmon, and mackerel. Also, Fishwife just published AN ENTIRE COOKBOOK ABOUT TINNED FISH that I obviously need immediately.
Lemon ❤️ tuna salad
OK, back to our main character: Ms. Tuna.
Canned tuna is great for everything from a pantry pasta to an easy rice bowl with veggies and spicy mayo, but tuna salad is and will forever be my No. 1.
If forced to rank my favorite sandwiches, tuna salad is a solid No. 2 (just behind peak-summer BLTs because duh). She’s a trusted confidant when I’ve got nothing to eat for lunch. In fact, I basically make it every week.
There are a few common truths I will always believe in with tuna salad. Celery and onion are always a must, add more acid than you think, and yes, it can always use more dill/chives/other various herbs.
But my world was recently ROCKED when I tried putting lemon zest into tuna salad.
It’s a trick I learned from
, who uses lemon zest as well as pepperoncini peppers and salt and vinegar chips on her tuna salad sandwiches. I recently watched Zaynab make this sandwich on Instagram and thought: “Damn I could do that. Also, damn why aren’t I doing that?!”
The sandwich is a hybrid of tuna salad sold at my beloved Radio Bakery (I can attest—it’s really good) in Brooklyn and Los Angeles’ Community Goods.
Her version does not include onions. To me, it seems illegal to not put onions in tuna salad, so I diced and added some red onion. I also used the juice of the lemon. (Again—add more acid than you think you need. IMO, it’s kinda hard to add too much!)
To make the sandwich, spread it on some good bread (I bought this cutie roll at Bien Cuit in my neighborhood) and then layer pepperoncini and a healthy handful of chips on top before closing the sandwich and cutting it in half. I fundamentally do not trust people who don’t like potato chips in sandwiches, so don’t skip this step. Go all out and pack this thing with as many chips as your heart desires.
For extra points, wrap in parchment paper before cutting to keep the sandwich’s structure when eating.
The result is a tuna sandwich with a few small tweaks that truly takes a standard tuna salad to a new level. The zest gives it brightness and complexity. The pepperoncini gives it tang and acidity (like pickles or pickle relish typically would but better), and the chips give it so. much. crunch.
NO JOKE BUT I AM IN LOVE AND SIMPLY CANNOT MAKE ANY OTHER TUNA SALAD AT THE MOMENT.
Also, if you use two 5-ounce cans of tuna to make tuna salad (like you should) it will yield two sandwiches—aka leftovers. These leftovers will prove particularly useful when you have three minutes in between Zoom calls to attempt to feed yourself something. As always, my future self was forever grateful for thinking ahead and making more than I needed in the moment.
As if it’s not clear already, I love tinned fish. Like a lot. So when I saw these cans of chocolate sardines at Annie’s General Store in Brooklyn a couple of weekends ago, I needed them for no other reason than the novelty factor. It’s from a brand called Bixby located in Maine that also makes a 1-pound chocolate lobster for $27.
Yes, they are adorable, and I regret nothing. Was it the best chocolate of my life? Eh. But who cares when you can eat a fish made out shaved dark chocolate?!
You’ve already read a million hot takes on Meghan Markle’s cooking (and crafting) show With Love, Meghan.
Unfortunately, I do not have anything unique to add to the discourse other than:
I feel for Meghan because she’s trying. Trying is always better than not trying.
I have never seen so many edible flowers.
- and have a great analysis of the show in this podcast episode.
Ina Garten remains our domestic queen.
Priya Krishna’s review of Ha’s Snack Bar for the New York Times, which is a tiny restaurant that’s described as a mix of French techniques and Vietnamese flavors, sounds like SO MUCH FUN.
See you next week!
that tuna salad sandwich looks like a dream. Sadly in Thailand right now and some items unattainable (please don't feel too sorry for me)
I have to add chips to my next tuna salad sandwich—sounds like salty goodness! I am also team tuna in water like your mom, but I’ll try an EVOO-packed one!!