The fresh summer lunch I can't stop eating
It's tuna pasta salad's classier, brighter sister. It'll make you feel like summer.
We are all about vibes here at Lo-Fi Cooking and today we’re introducing you to a lunch that will infuse you with the feeling of summer. It’s the kind of thing you eat outside: At a picnic, on a park bench, just after a dip in the pool (or, hell, while in the pool). It’s fresh, it’s bright, it’s full of crisp seasonal vegetables and, bonus, it’s very easy and quick to make.
It’s my No. 1 summer tuna pasta salad.
I came to this recipe via an Instagram account that I absolutely love and hope you will check out regardless of its name — CrispyEgg420 — because it is just gorgeous photo after gorgeous photo of simple, vegetable-forward meals on beautiful, simple plates. I find it so inspirational.
(For this newsletter, I’ve done some ~research~ and discovered that CrispyEgg420 is in fact, Bettina Makalintal, a writer for Eater who seems impossibly cool. I will, nonetheless, continue to refer to her by her Egg moniker. Thank you, Bettina!)
About two months ago CrispyEgg420 posted this beauty:
CrispyEgg was inspired by Bon Appetit’s broken lasagna pasta salad, but it’s a pretty loose inspiration. Here’s what she said: “this riff has tuna, cucumber, purple radish, lemon, parm, and looots of pepper and cobanero chili.” So, with that minimal instruction, here’s what I did.
This is very flexible, tweak the amounts to your preference.
Summer Tuna Pasta Salad
Ingredients:
6-8 oz. pasta of your choosing (CrispyEgg used broken lasagna noodles, I typically do a large tube shape)
1 can tuna in olive oil (If you just have tuna in water, that’s fine, but the oil saves us a step later. Also if you want to #TreatYoSelf, this canned tuna from Ortiz is phenomenal and I know Whole Foods carries it. )
A handful of radishes (Treat yourself to the prettiest ones you can find, I’m partial to watermelon radishes. They taste about the same but are gorgeous).
1-1.5 cups of chopped crispy vegetables of your choice: Cucumber, snap peas, bell pepper, celery, etc.
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese, plus more to taste (I highly recommend getting a wedge and shredding it yourself, it really makes a huge difference from the pre-packaged stuff. If you’re clumsy, like me, may I recommend cheese grater gloves? I use these.)
1 lemon
Red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper
Method:
Cook your 6-8 oz. pasta to your preferred doneness for pasta salad (I like a little bite to it).
While the pasta is cooking, chop all your veg: A handful of radishes, plus chopped crispy vegetables of your choice, you want 1.5-2 cups in total. I’m doing cucumber, celery and purple bell pepper today because that’s what I have on hand. I like to do thick matchsticks for the radishes, but this salad is not about being fussy, do what you like. Just keep the vegetables all about the same size. Put them in a large bowl.
To the bowl, add your can of tuna with the oil. (If you used tuna in water, add a couple tablespoons of olive oil, taste at the end and see if it needs more). Then add the juice of one lemon, a pinch of salt and lots of black pepper. I do not have cobanero chili, so I use red pepper flakes — shake in as much or as little as you’d like. Can skip entirely if you’re not feeling it.
When the pasta is done to your liking (taste a noodle!) drain it and run cold water over it to get it down to room temp.
Now, add the pasta into the bowl, top with about 1/4 cup shredded parmesan and mix everything together.
Taste it! Does it need more lemon? Parmesan? Pepper or chili flake? Adjust til it’s perfect and enjoy. This is great at room temp or straight out of the fridge. It’ll keep for a few days; you may need to add a bit more lemon juice or oil to freshen it up.
Yes, and
If you bought radishes for this recipe and have some left over, they are phenomenal when thinly sliced on a piece of bread with a little butter and salt. It’s dead simple and maybe obvious, but truly one of those greater-than-the-sum-of-it’s-parts things. You can even skip the bread. Radishes love butter.
Background noise
I couldn’t focus on the podcast I was listening to so I switched over to the soundtrack for the video game Disco Elysium, which is just really great lo-fi. Phenomenal background for writing, or cooking. There’s a full 2.5-hour version on YouTube, but if you have a minute, just listen to the track “Whirling-in-Rags, 8 am” which I’ve queued up here. The game itself is a mostly text-and-decision-based indie from 2019 about a depressed, drug-addicted, disco-loving cop in a quasi-French town that’s seen better days. It’s incredibly weird and dark and funny — it made me genuinely laugh and genuinely cry. One of my favorites of the last several years. If that sounds like your jam, it’s available on pretty much everything, including Macs for the non-gamer set.
That’s all for this week! Please subscribe and tell your friends. I’ll be back in a few days with another recipe.
Wow this is the most gorgeous thing I’ve ever seen. I’m going to a summer picnic potluck on Tuesday and will be bringing this!!!!!