A Weekly Feature*, Featuring White Bean and Tuna Salad

* when I remember.

This weekend Sylvie and I made a mad trip to Michigan to hang out with the family. My sweet niece and nephew planned a surprise anniversary party for my sister and brother-in-law, and my brother and I made the trip to see the look on Becky's face. Which, I might add, was priceless.

Having been out of the house all weekend, I woke this morning realizing there weren't leftovers for my lunch. So I threw together one of my favorite pantry-staple, high-protein, South Beach-lovin' salads: White Bean and Tuna. And I realized that early last week I'd also posted a legume recipe, so welcome to

BEANO MONDAYS

I'm a huge lover of beans. Dried. Canned. Whatever. Even if you buy the designer variety, like Rancho Gordo, they're still very cheap next to most meats. And they look lovely in jars in the pantry, so I tend to go overboard at the bulk-foods store. If you have a great bean recipe, e-mail me at cindy_kitchel@yahoo.com, and I'll share it here -- or share it in the comments. I mean, really, who couldn't use another bean recipe in the repertoire?

Even if you aren't a bean lover, I think the Rancho Gordo packaging would win you over.

White Beans and Tuna Salad in a Flash

2 cans cannelini or similar beans, drained and lightly rinsed
2 small cans tuna in water, drained, or tuna in olive oil, undrained
1/2 red onion, sliced very thinly
6 or so Tbsp. red wine or similar vinegar
2 or 3 Tbsp. olive oil, if you used tuna packed in water
1/2 small jar capers, drained
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine the beans, tuna, and onion in a bowl. Add the vinegar and, if your tuna was packed in water, olive oil. Stir it around a bit, and then add the capers and salt and pepper to taste. Done and done.

In other food-related news, my sister-in-law just sent me a pair of onion glasses. You wear them when slicing onions to stay tear-free. I can't wait to try them! I have four cups of onions to slice for a dip I'm making later this week, so I'm going to put the glasses through their paces and will report back.