Best Tuna Melt Sandwich

Tuna melts with a zing of Dijon and the crunch of celery and red onion!

I've made plenty of tuna melts over the years and I am not sure if I've ever made any with red onion. I think it's a fantastic addition to tuna salad and goes along really well with the Dijon instead of yellow mustard in the recipe. I'd love to try this particular recipe with bagels - years ago, I tried a recipe for chicken salad on a bagel and fell in love. It's my favorite vessel for chicken salad.

Herbed Tuna Steaks #FantasticalFoodFight

Welcome to another Food Fight! Fantastical Food Fight is a group of food bloggers who will get a theme or ingredient each month and make some sort of variation for it. It could be traditional or nontraditional and can be found in a cookbook, on a blog, or be a blogger's own creation! For more details, check out this page.

This month's Fantastical Food Fight theme is SEAFOOD. I was nervous about this one because your girl only eats canned tuna and that's about it. On occasion, I will eat a couple popcorn shrimp, but otherwise, I just don't eat much seafood. June is National Seafood Month (US food holiday) and I've tried to pick a variety of ingredients or dishes to have for the Food Fight, even if it isn't something I particularly like. I stepped outside of my comfort zone here.

Years ago, Nick ordered blackened ahi tuna steak at a local restaurant and it was truly one of the best things either of us have ever eaten. I knew when I chose seafood that I would attempt to do tuna steak at home. I didn't want to do blackened tuna because I wanted to go super simple for my first try, in case I messed it up. I found this recipe for herbed tuna steaks on Food Network and was incredibly nervous. Tuna steak isn't cheap and I didn't want to make it inedible.

I researched and researched to make sure I did it correctly. My tuna steak was a little over an inch and a half thick so I cooked it slightly longer but I should have stuck with the original cook time. I didn't ruin it by any means, but it wasn't medium rare. I was really excited to able to use some herbs from my Aerogarden too. All-in-all, it was way less scary than I made it out to be and I would definitely buy it and make it again. I made pork chops using the same recipe as the tuna and they were just as delicious.

Cheesy Jalapeno Tuna Casserole

Boring tuna noodle casserole, begone! This casserole is spicy and cheesy in all the best ways!

One of my favorite cookbooks ever is Chrissy Teigen's Cravings cookbook and I have already made multiple recipes multiple times from it. This tuna casserole is one of those recipes I have made multiple times because we all love it so much. It also makes so much casserole that we have lots of leftovers. What I love about this recipe is that it takes classic elements of a tuna noodle casserole like cream of mushroom soup, peas, and a crunchy chip topping and then takes them to the next level. Jalapeno kettle chips, an insane amount of cheese, fresh jalapenos, and corkscrew pasta make this the most awesome tuna casserole EVER.

Tuna Melt Quesadillas

I never thought in a million years I'd eat a tuna quesadilla, but these are the bomb!

I always get a little nervous when I make a recipe with an ingredient that I know some of the family doesn't eat. In these quesadillas, that ingredient is mayonnaise. Nick hates mayonnaise. Matthew "hates" mayonnaise. Realistically, he doesn't. He used to eat tuna salad sandwiches for lunch all the time at school and didn't believe me that there is mayonnaise in tuna salad. He didn't see me make these quesadillas...and he told me that they were in his top FIVE favorite recipes. Not top ten, top FIVE. Then I revealed the mayonnaise component and he was like "Meh, they weren't that great." Mind you, I got this all on film LOL. Does anyone else have a "picky eater"? The convenient picky eater is what that child is.

I digress. I was a little weary of these quesadillas not turning out well despite the fact that I really wanted to them. I was so happy that they DID turn out well. So well! Matthew, Cami, and I devoured them. We wanted more. This is seriously such a good recipe if you love tuna melts.

Quesadillas de Camarones

Quesadillas that can be made with the camarones or with chicken as a substitute - but they are the real deal!

Camarones is Spanish for prawns. I didn't know that until I was about to post this recipe. I'm notorious for posting a recipe with a different language and leaving out a main ingredient that makes up the name. There was one where the title had mushrooms (like maybe pasta with mushrooms) and I omitted the mushrooms. This time I made Prawn Quesadillas without the prawn. Goodness gracious. However, I did include the instructions on how to make these WITH shrimp....but also sans camarones, as I made them. If you have been around as a reader for any length of time, you may have noticed that there are very few seafood recipes and if they do pop up, they are tuna recipes. Tuna is the only seafood that my husband and I eat. Our older two kids like shrimp (and my daughter loves calamari), but I have always found it hard to cook something well that I don't like to eat. Does that make sense?

These quesadillas are so very good. The sauteed vegetables really do make a huge difference in them. I couldn't find the Mexican red sauce for the protein, so I used a roasted good quality salsa. :)

Southwest Tuna Salad Sandwiches

I am a sucker for a good tuna salad sandwich. I know it's not everyone's thing and that's okay, but man alive do I freaking love them! I've only really ever made them the traditional way with pickles and bare minimum everything. It was the same with chicken salad too and then I tried a different way with more seasonings and LOVED it. So I absolutely had to try tuna salad with a Southwest twist. This recipe came from one of my Secret Recipe Club hostesses, Debbi, and I'm so glad I found it and saved it. Next time, they will be served on bagels, which I have found is the best way to eat chicken salad and I'm sure that's true for tuna salad too. It is a nice crunch with the softness of the "salad" :)

Fresh Spinach & Tomato Tuna Pasta

I was watching a bunch of Giada at Home one weekend. It was nearing lunchtime and I was really craving some pasta. So I took to my kitchen and searched my fridge and pantry for different ingredients to put together. The particular episode I was watching she used spinach in her pasta.

I'm lucky to live with 3 other people who love spinach as much as I do. It's nice to add it in to dishes because it's a great source of iron and with my anemia, I need all the iron I can get!

Basil & Garlic Butter Pasta

I meant to make this as a lunch meal for the kids and I before Matthew started school, but I ended up using it for a dinner dish. I was really surprised at how flavorful just a few ingredients were. When we ate it for lunch the next day as leftovers, we added tuna to the mix and it was the perfect addition to an already amazing dish. I don't have many recipes that I can use as tuna meals, but this is definitely one of those that works perfectly with the addition of meat. I'm sure that chicken, steak, and ham would also be perfect additions.

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What you need:

• 12 oz. pasta
• 4 tbsp. olive oil
• 4 tbsp. butter
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 4 tbsp. fresh basil, chopped* - we used a mixture of fresh oregano and dried basil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

Cook pasta according to package direction; drain.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil and butter over medium to medium-high heat.

Add garlic and onion. Saute until onion is tender, stirring frequently.

Add pasta, basil, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss to coat. Heat for a minute or two.

(I added the sauce to my pasta in a separate bowl off the heat)

Serve topped with Parmesan

**When we ate leftovers, we added a package of vacuum-packed tuna (lemon pepper flavor) to it. It was absolutely delicious with the addition and we will definitely be adding it every time we make it!

Recipe from Hot Eats & Cool Reads

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Homemade Tuna Alfredo Helper

I'm much more willing to try out alfredo recipes now that I have made it homemade and know how different the flavor is. I thought that this was a great idea because I actually really like the Tuna Helpers, I just know that they cannot be good for you with all that preservatives and "natural flavorings" in it. This is super simple. I already had pretty much everything on hand to make it, too!

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What you need:

• 1 can tuna, packed in oil (I used a 12 oz.)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• Fettuccine, cooked al dente
• Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. Cook garlic in butter for 1 minute.
2. Add tuna, peas, heavy cream, and fettuccine.
3. Simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Then top with Parmesan.

Recipe from Huckleberries & Rain

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Tuna Mac & Cheese Casserole

I have always been a fiend for tuna casserole. It and tuna melts are like the only thing I know how to make with tuna, so I try to switch it up on occasion. I thought this recipe sounded simple enough and figured the kids would love it because it's mac & cheese. This was totally killer - I loved the addition of the Italian seasoning flavor and we also used a little garlic sea salt and cracked peppercorn too.

(Print)
What you need:

• 1 box macaroni and cheese
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 (12 oz.) can tuna
• 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Prepare the macaroni according to package directions (or at least the boiling the noodles part).
2. Add cheese packet, peas, tuna, seasoning, cheddar cheese, and milk. Stir well.
3. Bake in a small casserole dish at 350* for 10 minutes to warm through.
4. Top with Parmesan and serve.

Recipe from Talking Dollars and Cents

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Grilled Lemon & Herb Tilapia Packets

I used tilapia in this recipe because our store was fresh out of salmon. It figures that they had them the week before and I planned for this recipe...to find out they didn't have them when I went back for them. I was really surprised when both kids devoured their tilapia. Neither of them are huge seafood eaters, which is probably because Nick and I aren't either. We eat tuna...and that's about it. But I'm trying to introduce foods that we aren't too familiar with. We will be trying this again soon with salmon.

(Print)
What you need:

• 2 cups uncooked rice
• 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup carrots, grated
• Tilapia filets
• 1 tsp. lemon pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/3 cup chopped chives
• 1 medium lemon, cut into wedges

Directions:

Soak rice in chicken broth for around 5 minutes. Stir in carrots.

On a large piece of foil that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, place your filets. Season with lemon pepper and salt and top with chives.

Spoon rice around the edges and add lemon wedges, then fold and seal.

Grill on low heat for 11 to 14 minutes until filets flake with a fork easily.

Recipe adapted from Betty Crocker

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Tuna Melts

So when I meal plan each week, I sit down with a list of all the recipes I have. I typically don't go for WHO I got the recipe, but what it is. It seems like I have racked up a great deal of Pioneer Woman recipes, plus I've also been cooking through her newest cookbook, Food From My Frontier, like a mad woman. I have mad love for PDub. Mad love.

I remember seeing this recipe and thinking of how smart it was to make the melts on English muffins instead of hamburger buns or just plain bread. These were easily the best tuna melts I've ever had!

(Print)
What you need:

• 5 oz. tuna (I used a large can...it is bigger than 5 oz.)
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup bell pepper, chopped (I had to omit because mine had gone bad)
• 1 jalapeno, deseeded and chopped
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
• 1/3 cup mayo
• 2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 6 English muffins, split in half
• Sliced cheese

Directions:

Mix together tuna, onion, bell pepper, jalapeno, and eggs. Stir in mayo and mustard. 

Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Place a large dollop of the tuna mixture on each English muffin half and top with a slice of cheese, then the other half of the muffin.

Bake at 375* for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and muffin is slightly crunchy :)

Recipe from The Pioneer Woman

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Fried Rice

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot

Macaroni Salad

Find the recipe on The Recipe Jackpot

**PIC TO COME**