tzatziki tuna salad

Usually, I eat out for lunch, but today I made this Tzatziki Tuna Salad with its unique blend of yogurt and dill. It is a delicious lunch. Low fat yogurt makes a great low fat substitute for full fat mayonnaise which I usually put in to make a tuna salad. I dislike the terrible sweet taste of low fat mayo. I adapted the salad from this recipe by Genevieve Ko, NY Times Cooking. It is bright and light, perfect at this time of year, when an early start to the monsoon season here in Bangkok, has brought rain, thunderstorms, and flooding to parts of the city. In those conditions, retreating to the kitchen on a rainy afternoon is definitely the prudent thing to do.

Tzatziki Tuna Salad (adapted from the NY Times Cooking)

Yield: 1 serving

For the Tzatziki

1 medium clove garlic

Salt

3 tablespoons plain low fat yogurt or full fat Greek yogurt

3 tablespoons finely diced cucumber

1 teaspoon dill seed, crushed in a mortar (or 1 teaspoon dried dill weed or 1 tablespoon fresh)

1/2-teaspoon lemon juice

For the Tuna Salad

1 165g can of tuna in oil (if using tuna packed in spring water, drain it and add 1 tablespoon olive oil)

1 1/2-teaspoons yellow mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

Home made bread, lettuce, cucumber slices, and/or grape tomatoes, for serving

Lemon juice, optional

Make the tzatziki sauce: Smash the garlic, remove the peel, sprinkle with a pinch of salt, then mince finely. Transfer the salted garlic to a medium bowl, then add the yogurt, finely diced cucumber, dill, and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Taste and add more salt as needed.

Make the salad. Drain the tuna in spring water and add it to the tzatziki sauce. Add oil if using tuna in spring water. Add the mustard, mix, and taste. Add salt and pepper. Scoop into a small bowl. Set aside.

Fill a salad bowl with chopped lettuce, invert the bowl of tuna salad over the lettuce. Arrange cucumber slices and grape tomatoes around the edge of the bowl. If desired, instead of salad dressing, sprinkle a little lemon juice over the lettuce, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Grind some fresh black pepper over all.