Watts Cooking?

Yes, I'm ashamed. I shouldn't be allowed to call myself a foodie. I don't deserve to.

I've been bad. What happened? Well, I was lucky enough to receive a series of amazing cookbooks for Christmas. Then! I won two other fantastic cookbooks in a raffle. And what do I do? Nothing.

Well, it's not like I haven't read them or anything. Oh no! I've read every single one of them cover to cover. The pages are already dog-eared and full of sticky tabs pointing to recipes that are begging to be cooked. But alas, not one has been made. It was a combination of things, really. Going on a post-Christmas cleanse from all the over indulging, followed by a month of intense classes, then starting a brutal internship.

Oh, I don't deserve these gorgeous books. Yes, I've stared at them, yes I've dreamt of the glorious recipes they were going to give rise to, but that was all talk until it actually happened.

Well, last weekend, Eureka! Nigella was cracked open and I couldn't wait any longer to make a certain recipe from p.284 that I had tripled stickied. TRIPLE! It combines two of my favourite things, tuna and beans. It also fit the bill of being very versatile for lunches the following week.


Oh dear, I'm kicking myself for not having made this sooner. The creamy beans, tangy onion, flaky tuna! And, as the aptly named Nigella Express implies, it took me maybe 5 minutes, beginning to end. Perfect for the busy intern!

I've made many incarnations of this including sprinkling it on a mâche salad and crushing a bit with my fork to spread on a crusty toasted bread. It's supposed to serve 4-6 as a starter or part of a meal, but it really is completely adaptable to whatever your brain can come up with. So don't make the same mistake as I did and wait months before you try this. Run, don't walk, to your kitchen and throw it together.

I've also managed to make another recipe, this one from Cook with Jamie Oliver, but you'll have to be patient and wait a little while longer to hear about it. And one last thing, today is the first day of Nutrition Month. A whole month dedicated to promoting good food habits and healthy eating. Please check out the Dietitians of Canada website for tons of great info and tips.




Recipe - Tuna and Beans
Adapted from Nigella Express
Serves 4-6 as a starter or part of a meal

1/2 red onion, finely chopped
4 tablespoons lemon juice
2 14 oz (400g) cans of white kidney beans
250 g can of flaked light tuna, skipjack, packed in water (this is just my favourite tuna as skipjack contains less mercury than albacore - but feel free to use whatever you prefer).
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste (I used my beloved fleur de sel for a bit of extra texture)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley to garnish

Put the chopped onion into a bowl with the lemon juice and let it steep while you prepare the rest of the salad.

Drain the beans and rinse them well. Place in a bowl. Drain the tuna and flake it into the beans. Add the olive oil and salt to the onion and lemon juice mixture, whisking to make a dressing. Pour it over the tuna and beans.

Fork the tuna and bean salad through, seasoning with salt and pepper. Garnish with the parsley.