Day One of Cheese-Free (Almost)

Yesterday was my first official day of trying to break up with cheese.  Easy enough at breakfast... a bowl of Trader Joe's Organic Honey Crunch n' Oats.  I had to look through A LOT of labels on boxes of cereal to find this one with only 6 grams of sugar; most cereals are more like dessert than a nutritious start to your day.

Then for lunch I made a loaded tuna salad: capers, pepperonccini, kalamata olives, celery, scallions and chopped walnuts with Greek yogurt, dijon and cider vinegar.

Feeling good; thinking "this isn't so hard."  I'm sure plenty of you go many days in a row with no cheese, and it's not even a thought or consideration..... but I have "a problem" when it comes to cheese (admitting it is the first step, they say), so for me it takes a lot of thought..

I was thankful that I was going to a party at my friend Jeannine's house that night, so I didn't need to think through another meal.  As long as it wasn't a fondue party, I'd be good.  And, lucky me, it was not a fondue party! The food was fabulous and plentiful...

It started with passed hors d'ouevres.  I was thrilled to partake of the tuna carpaccio and vegan samosas, and I did, with abandon!

...so far, so good.

When one of the lovely servers came by with a tray of interesting little bites, I let the description she gave go in one ear and out the other (not surprising for those who know me).  The tasty little nuggets were "grapes" (beautifully in season right now), "coated in chopped pistachios" (yum!) and "herbed....." - pop it in my mouth....swallow... savor - "goat cheese."  It  took three of them and about 20 minutes before I said, "Wait a minute.  What...did...she...say?   Darn you, cheese!  I told you to stay away from me."

Oh who cares; they were so creative, cute and yummy.

After that, I decided to play it safe with the one thing I recognized as being completely cheese-free.

Sure, it was just a one-night-stand, but I'm grateful to those peanut M&M's for making me forget about cheese for the rest of the night...

Loaded Tuna Salad

Serves 2

One 6.5 oz, can tuna in water

1/4 cup kalamata olives, chopped

1 tablespoon capers

1 tablespoon chopped pepperoncini

1 scallion, finely sliced

1 stalk celery, diced

2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons dijon mustard (I love Trader Joe's brand - has a nice kick!)

2 teaspoons cider vinegar

pinch salt (to taste)

1 tablespoons chopped walnuts

Butter lettuce, cut into bite-sized pieces

• In a medium bowl use a fork to break up the tuna, adding olives, capers, pepperoncini, scallion, and celery
• Add yogurt, dijon and vinegar.  Stir to combine.
• Lay butter lettuce on each of two plates and top with tuna salad.
• Top each with chopped nuts.

Oooh-La-La!

I taught a French Bistro cooking class the other night... French Onion Soup, Roasted Beet Salad, Leek & Goat Cheese Souffle.  But my favorite was the Salad Nicoise Bites.  A traditional Salad Nicoise generally is a bed of lettuce covered with boiled new potatoes, steamed green beans, tomato wedges, hard boiled eggs, nicoise olives, then topped with tuna and garnished with anchovies and vinaigrette.

I wanted to make an appetizer out of this hearty salad. , since I already had the roasted beet salad on the menu.  I created a little tuna salad with albacore tuna, blanched haricot vert, capers, kalamata olives (easier to find and cheaper than nicoise olives), hard boiled eggs, and chives (or you could use chopped scallions).  I made a tangy vinaigrette and blended it into the tuna mixture.  The longer it sits, the more the flavors develop.....sooooo good!  Then I sliced the boiled red potatoes and topped them with a little of the salad.

It's a fun appetizer and can easily be made ahead.  It's also a perfect blend of protein, healthy fat, and complex carbs so it's fillling and keeps your blood sugar balanced at the same time.  Best of all, if you have leftovers (I make sure I make enough to have some the next day), the tuna makes a yummy sandwich - slice a baguette or use a sandwich roll, hollow out a well in the middle to hold the salad and spread with a little of Trader Joe's dijon mustard..... heaven on a plate!  I've never been a big tuna salad girl, but this tasty blend has changed all that!

Salad Niciose Bites                                                                              

8 small red potatoes

1 cup haricots vert

2 eggs

¼ cup white wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon chopped shallot

1 tablespoon chopped chives

¼ teaspoon salt

Pinch pepper

¾ cup olive oil

One 6 ounce can light tuna, packed in water and drained

10 pitted Kalamata olives

2 tablespoons capers, plus a little juice

·         Place the potatoes in a medium saucepan and cover with water by an inch.  Bring to a boil and cook 12 minutes.

·         Add haricot vert and continue cooking 3 minutes.  Remove haricot vert and run under cold water to stop cooking process.

·         If potatoes are fork tender, also drain and rinse in cold water to stop cooking.

·         Meanwhile place eggs in saucepan and cover with water by an inch.  Bring to a boil.  Immediately cover and remove from heat.  After 15 minutes, drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.  Peel and chop; set aside.

·         In a small bowl combine vinegar, mustard, shallot, chives, salt and pepper.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil.  Stir in chopped chives.

·         Coarsely chop the haricot vert, olives and capers.

·          In a medium bowl, combine the tuna with the vinaigrette, then stir in the bean mixture and fold the eggs in; season with salt and pepper.

      Cut the ends off the potatoes and discard. Cut each potato into 3-4 rounds and arrange on a platter. then top with the tuna mixture.