Recipe: Monterey Tuna Salad

Monterey Tuna Salad, as sandwich and on a tomato

My best recollection of the sweet tuna salad served at the Fountain Court Café in the Monterey, CA Community Hospital. This cafeteria is so popular that perfectly healthy people from nearby communities flock to eat here; priority seating is given to those who can prove they have a family member in the hospital.

Ingredients:
1 5-oz can tuna
1 T Miracle Whip OR 1 T mayonnaise plus ½ t sugar
2 t sweet relish OR 2 t chopped dill pickles plus ¼ t sugar
¼ t celery seed
1 T chopped onion (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste (just a little)
Beau Monde seasoning (optional)

Method: drain tuna and mix with other ingredients. Serve on sandwich bread or a quartered tomato. (To quarter tomato as shown, cut from the end opposite the stem almost all the way through; unfold flower-style and remove loose seeds and membrane. Down south, we would traditionally add a shake of Spice Islands Beau Monde seasoning on top.)

UPDATE: concerned about mercury levels in tuna? I’m not because I don’t eat it all that often. But as an easy hack, my wife has started making “tuna salad” out of canned salmon–not the bright pink stuff but the paler kind found in natural food aisles. Once the condiments are added, the kids can’t taste the difference.