For her birthday a few years ago, I gave my sister a year’s subscription to Bon Appétit.
I must have checked an extra box or something because it kept being auto-renewed annually, which was slightly annoying but I couldn’t bring myself to cancel the subscription because somewhere along the way it stopped being my sister’s magazine.

It started with a peek inside, a few interesting articles and bookmarking recipes to try. Then I read more articles; some fun, some informative and some made me want to travel and eat.
Mostly, the magazine managed to convey how I felt about food; the simplicity and wholesomeness

So it’s our magazine now, and I’ve tried several recipes over the years, but ultimately I’ve bookmarked even more.
There has to be some specialness to a recipe that calls me; it was the parsley vinaigrette that won me over in this white bean and tuna salad.
See, I’d just come into a wealth of parsley. I always seem to end up with more parsley than I need, so this recipe sounded perfect.
The vinaigrette is tasty, tart with a slight bitterness that balances out the salad perfectly.

The recipe calls for good quality tuna; in fact it insists – I didn’t have ‘fancy tuna’, Rio Mare isn’t exactly gourmet, but it’s Italian and in olive oil, and it’d been languishing in my pantry for a while.

Besides I wanted the crunchy crisp chopped vegetables I tossed in to be the star, the BA recipe called for celery, I went a few steps further and added red onions, bell peppers and carrots.
And these veggies play so well together and even better with the fresh and savoury vinaigrette, in beautiful harmony.

I added a teaspoon of red pepper flakes to up the heat quotient.

This is a great summer salad, vibrant and bold and like all things summer, best eaten alfresco preferably with a glass of wine and views of the ocean. A good book or magazine will suffice too…
It’s wonderful for lunch or dinner, and leftovers are good the day after.
It makes me want to have a picnic so bad!

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White Bean & Tuna Salad with Parsley Vinaigrette

Adapted from Bon Appétit, April 2012 issue

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups (packed) flat-leaf parsley (leaves and stems)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon Champagne vinegar
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 medium head of radicchio, cored, leaves coarsely torn
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 cups cannellini cooked beans, cooked (or 2 15-ounce cans, rinsed & drained)
• 2 celery stalks, peeled, sliced thinly on an extreme diagonal
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 cup drained olive oil–packed tuna in a jar or good-quality canned tuna, broken into large pieces
• Sprigs of parsley for garnish

DIRECTIONS

1. Pulse parsley, oil, lemon juice, vinegar, and garlic in a food processor until well blended
2. Season to taste with salt and pepper
3. Place radicchio in a large bowl
4. Drizzle with 3 Tbsp. Parsley Vinaigrette and toss to coat
5. Season radicchio to taste with salt and pepper
6. Transfer to a serving platter, spreading out in an even layer
7. In the large bowl, combine cannellini beans, celery, onions, pepper and carrots, add about 5 – 6 tablespoons of parsley vinaigrette and toss to coat
8. Season with salt and pepper
9. Arrange bean mixture on top of radicchio
10. Top salad with tuna, mix gently and garnish with parsley
11. Drizzle some more vinaigrette over
12. Serve and enjoy!

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