tuna – Simply Delicious: The Cookbook Project

1-23: Pita Pockets

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters September 25, 2022February 19, 2024blue cheese, boiled, Boston lettuce, canola oil, cheese, cooked potatoes, cucumbers, diced, Dijon mustard, dressing, dried herbs, easy, eggs, filling, fish, garlic, Greek yogurt, green beans, green onions, hard-boiled, herb salt, herbs and spices, hot dogs, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, julienned, lettuce, lunch, minced, olive oil, oregano, party food, picnic, pita bread, potatoes, Romaine lettuce, salt, sandwiches, sausage, scallions, seafood, sliced, smoked ham, sunflower oil, tomatoes, tuna, untested, vegetable oil, vegetarian, vinegar, yellow mustard, yogurt

Today, I have the last unmade Group 01 recipe in my possession to share with you today, 1-23: Pita Pockets. They’re essentially sandwiches with two sorts of filling, both very 1980s/”light”.

One of my favorite restaurants is called Pita Pockets–I’ve been going there since I was in high school (over 20 years…eeek) and it’s one of the places I try to stop at when I find myself back in Southern California. Their pita sandwiches are very different from what we’ve got here today (and theirs are WAY better).

I remember pitas being a big deal in the 1980s-1990s, so it’s not surprising that they were included in this recipe collection. They’re still super popular today, but they’re not as “new” of a concept. Speaking of new, this one came from the NEW book, hence why I wasn’t aware until relatively recently that Simply Delicious even had a pita sandwich recipe.

2-3: Salad Niçoise

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters July 27, 2020November 24, 2020anchovies, black olives, black pepper, capers, chilled, dairy-free, dressing, eggs, emulsion, fish, flaked, French, garlic, garnish, gluten-free, green beans, minced, olive oil, peeled, potatoes, Romaine lettuce, salads, salt, seafood, sliced, summer, tuna, vinegar, white wine vinegar

Salads are usually a good choice when it’s hot out, and since we’re currently in the middle of summer (here in the U.S.), 2-3: Salad Niçoise (pronounced nee-swah) might be a good choice for an upcoming meal. Plus, it primarily uses readily-available canned/jarred ingredients, which can be helpful for both budgets and pandemic shopping.

Salade niçoise is a well-known dish (like the last recipe I covered, 14-8: Baked Alaska), and there are many different versions of it out there. Even Simply Delicious alludes to the different variations in their blurb above– although what they insist as a “must” (eggs, tuna, olives) seems to be up to interpretation.

1-17: Tuna-Stuffed Tomatoes

Adam Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters December 20, 2016October 4, 2020appetizers, chives, chopped, creamy, dairy-free, easy, fairly inexpensive, fish, gluten-free, green olives, healthy, herbs and spices, hors d'oeuvres, lemon juice, lunch, mayonnaise, salt, seafood, side dish, snacks, stuffed, tomatoes, tuna, untested, yellow mustard

1-17: Tuna-Stuffed Tomatoes wouldn’t be my first suggestion as an appetizer for a party, but for a light lunch for myself, I thought it would be a good idea to attempt this recipe. Jamie was not interested in tomatoes or tuna at the time, so more for me!

I really liked these tomatoes, I would eat them again if I didn’t have to do the preparation work.

1-28: Picnic Tuna Sandwiches

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters May 15, 2016February 5, 2020appetizers, avocados, black pepper, breads, butter, celery, cheese, chilled, chopped, diced, easy, eggs, hard-boiled, iceberg lettuce, inexpensive, lemon juice, lunch, mayonnaise, paprika, party food, Pepper Jack, pickles, picnic, radishes, red onions, salt, sandwiches, sour cream, tuna, untested, whole wheat bread, yellow mustard

Leave it to Simply Delicious to try to make tuna sandwiches sound fancy. 1-28: Picnic Tuna Sandwiches is a basic method for constructing a sandwich, using tuna fish, presumably for a picnic. It’s really all in the title.

I suppose you have to learn how to make tuna salad somehow–maybe you grow up with parents who don’t like it and you never learn. That’s not what happened in my case (my mother adores tuna salad), but I suppose it’s the case for some people, and so recipes like this must exist. Reminds me of this xkcd comic.

1-8: Delicious Cocktail Snacks

Jamie Martin Group 01: Hot & Cold Appetizers, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters March 9, 2016December 24, 2019all-purpose flour, appetizers, blue cheese, butter, Canadian bacon, Cheddar, cheese, chilled, chopped, cocktail, cooked chicken, diced, Dijon mustard, dough, fairly easy, fairly expensive, foie gras, grated, ham, hors d'oeuvres, liver pâté, mayonnaise, melted, Monterey Jack, Parmesan, party food, pepperoni, red bell peppers, salad shrimp, shrimp, Silpat, smoked ham, snacks, spinach, toppings, tuna, twice-baked, untested, vegetables, vegetarian, yellow onions

I recently attended a birthday party, and was tasked with making some of the dishes for the party (as is usually the case). Seeing as some of the guests were “old-school” about their dining preferences, I decided to use up some of the more “old-school” recipes. 1-8: Delicious Cocktail Snacks looks exactly like something a waiter would be carrying around at a fancy cocktail party in an old movie.

So retro. These were pretty easy to make, and actually held really well in the fridge before the party. I reheated them at the party and it worked great–just a thought if you need something for a party that you can make earlier, transport and/or reheat later.

2-37: Chicken-Salami-Rice Salad

Jamie Martin Group 02: Salads, Section 1: Appetizers & Starters January 16, 2016March 14, 20204th of July, appetizers, black olives, black pepper, boiled, celery, chicken, chicken bouillon, chicken salad, chilled, cooked chicken, dairy-free, diced, dinner, dressing, easy, garlic, green bell peppers, inexpensive, lemons, lettuce, lunch, marinated, olive oil, party food, red bell peppers, red onions, revisited, rice, roach motel apt, salads, salami, sautéed, tomatoes, tuna

Today (Jan. 16) is my wedding anniversary, so I thought I’d post a recipe that has some relevance to my husband and I. I made this for a 4th of July party that we attended together back in 2009, when we had only just started dating.

We actually had a terrible time at the party, and I remember the salad being a bit strange with my modifications, but everything seems to have worked out in the end. My second attempt at the salad turned out much better, as most things do in life after a bit of thought. 🙂