It's All Good! Gwynie's Italian Tuna and Chickpea Salad

'It's All Good' was an 'in the supermarket so it doesn't count' buy. It has been sitting in the pile for a few weeks and I had debated whether or not to sling it as it looked a bit faddy on a cursory first viewing as Paltrow has 'eliminated' a lot of nasties from her diet (ie gluten, soy & dairy).

However it's hot, I don't feel like cooking and I have a lot of grains etc to use up so I have had a better look and ok, it's a bit too 'good' in places but there are some great ideas for summer weather cooking. Plus Kate and I have decided that we will try for a healthier approach to our summer food to make up for her 'student' diet for the last 8 months.

So yesterday we tried a very simple tuna salad with some additional salad veg. I also bought a garlic and herb flatbread - ok so it's not healthy but very good with  a salad.

I also plan to cook:

- Quinoa with Butternut Squash, Scallions and Parsley
- Carrots with Black Sesame and Ginger
- Korean Slaw
- Spicy Sweet Potato Soup with Chipotle and Coriander
- Braised Chicken with Green Olives and Lemon.

First up, Gwynie's Italian Tuna and Chickpea Salad. 

Serves 4.

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Zest of 1/2 lemon
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
8 ounces tuna packed in olive oil, drained
A 14-ounce can of chickpeas, drained & rinsed
2 tablespoons finely diced red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped Italian parsley
3 spring onions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
A handful of rocket (about 1 ounce), finely chopped
Course sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Whisk the olive oil, lemon zest, lemon juice and red wine vinegar together in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and season to taste with salt and pepper.

A perfect main course salad for a hot day. The salad was, as billed, tasty and filling. The flavours combined well because everything is chopped small. I prepared it without vinegar but otherwise stuck to the recipe. We enjoyed the addition of lightly dressed cucumber and tomatoes, and a small amount of hot garlic and herb flat bread was a welcome addition.

I thought that it looked very pretty presented in my new JosephJoseph salad bowl, affectionately christened "The bed pan" by the family. This is a dish which will no doubt appear during the coming months.

  Sue


I haven't quite grasped the idea of a salad as the main meal of the day but Gwynie's offering might well have converted me. I'm not a fan of big leafy salads that stick in your throat, so the small chunks of tuna and delicate bits of red onion really did it for me. It looked really simple to prepare, but still impressive, and it keeps well overnight in the fridge to finish off the next day so I can see myself making this at uni (because despite what my mother says, my 'student' diet isn't that bad). If only living off this salad would guarantee looking like Gwynie. Apparently using the red wine vinegar would give the salad more of a tang, but I personally (stepping aside from my anti-vinegar stance) think the flavours were strong enough to only need the lemon juice.

 Kate

It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen, published 2013. ISBN 978 - 349 - 40083 - 9