My Idea of Fast Food #2

For folks on the academic schedule, things are starting to heat up.  The first day of school will be here before I know it, and before that there are meetings to attend and syllabi due and, for some of us, new buildings to move into as well.  I've been petting the head of that part of myself I call Anxious Annie of the Clipboard for days now. (She likes that much better than being denied.)

Thankfully, yesterday was Friday.  I had made a little headway against the to do list in my head, and then Dave called to say that an impromptu guy night was happening.  I didn't even have to make dinner!

Oh, but I like to make dinner. Dinner is the sensual punctuation at the the end of all the efforting that the work day requires.  I won't give it up, but I will turn to what I consider fast food, especially when the stress is falling away and cooking isn't even required, a welcome bonus in the heat of summer.  


A few days ago, a latent craving had appeared on my mental horizon, an item added to the list of things to eat and record soon.  When the evening became just for me, I knew it was exactly what I wanted: white bean and tuna salad.  Creamy and umami-laden in an oceanic way, yet light and virtuous,  because virtue thy name is beans-and-omega-threes.

To add a vegetable in the absence of the leafy greens I usually nestle the salad into,  I made a bed of what I'm calling zucchini carpaccio--mandoline-thin slices of zucchini drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, and sprinkled with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and one finely diced oil packed sun dried tomato for jewelry.  That was a pretty good idea, too.  Accompanied by a well-chilled glass of rose` wine, it was the perfect bowl for my unwinding evening.

(Public service request: If anyone knows how to produce a real accent mark on the average keyboard, would you please enlighten me?  Thank you.  We now return to our regular programming.)

Again, this is dinner that doesn't really require a recipe.  Throw some drained tuna and cannellini or other white beans in a bowl, add red onion, chopped parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to your taste, and you're done. If you want to be fancy, add capers, tomatoes, other herbs, or whatever strikes your fancy, so that your super easy home made fast food dinner hits that appetite spot that makes you lay down your spoon and say, "That was just what I wanted."  


This dinner is proof that with the right pantry ingredients and fridge staples around, anyone can  whip up dinner with next to no effort and without the negative load of resorting to greasy takeout.  Definitely another one of my ideas of fast food.  Filed! (Along with  #1 here.)