Canned food cuisine

Would you consider making a meal using almost exclusively canned foods? No? It had never occurred to me, either. I plan nearly every meal (to the point of being a bit obsessive, maybe) and I always plan friday night dinner with extra care. Friday is just so special, the week's work done or maybe not but then it has to wait, and the whole weekend lies ahead. It feels like standing in front of a meadow covered in snow, pristine, without foodprints. So many possibilites! Then, when you've ran all over it and it's all messed up - that's sunday evening when you iron a shirt and discover it misses a button. But let's stick to friday for the moment. Last friday I had decided to make the aptly named Single Girl Salmon for a night of solitary dining from Amanda Hesser's Cooking for Mr. Latte. But then, as the afternoon went by, I suddenly felt so unspeakably tired. So tired, that, in fact, I could not fry a piece of salmon steak, let alone simmer puy lentils. No way. Luckily, Amanda Hesser provided just the solution to my problem and that was canned food cuisine such as Canned Tuna with Beans, Creamy Red Pepper Spread and Aged Sherry Vinegar. It was perfect. Ready in ten minutes max., tasty and satisfying and hardly anything to wash up. I immediately stocked up on the cadillac of canned tuna on my saturday shop. Just in case I get hit by that kind of tiredness again. Or laziness, come to think of it.

Canned Tuna with Beans, Creamy Red Pepper Spread and Aged Sherry Vinegar

(Tapas for 4)

Recipe from Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser

• 12 ounces fine tuna preserved in oil


• 1/4 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika (the sweet, not hot variety)


• 3/4 cup roasted red pepper spread, preferably coarse (or canned roasted piquillo peppers, drained and pulsed in the food processor with a little olive oil)


• 1/2 cup marinated gigante beans or jarred white beans (also preferably in oil)


• Extra virgin olive oil


• Aged sherry vinegar

Begin with all ingredients at room temperature. Drain the tuna from the oil and place it in a bowl. Sprinkle over the paprika and stir gently to mix. On each of four small plates, spread a 3-inch circle of red pepper spread. Divide the tuna among them, placing it on top of the peppers. Spoon the beans on and around the tuna. Sprinkle with olive oil and a little sherry vinegar.

I do not know anything about cups and ounces and inches, I just measured things out as it looked right. I couldn't get any marinated beans, so I used canned but added a little chopped parsley.