White Bean Tuna Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette

“Tuna” and “elegant” aren’t often used in the same sentence, but this white bean tuna salad with Dijon vinaigrette is an exception! WOW! It’s a tuna salad that is elegant enough to stand front and center on a luncheon buffet table and humble enough to make a typically humdrum work lunch feel a little special.

Forget the mayo and leave the condensed soup on the grocery store shelf here, folks. You have a whole new way to enjoy tuna salad! It’s light, it’s crunchy, it’s colorful. Not a tuna salad lover, you say? Before you turn up your nose, try it.  Try it. You’ll like it. (name that commercial 😉 )

Back to business. I was in the mood for tuna but not in the mood for a mayonnaise-based salad. Being the mustard lover that I am, and trying to incorporate more veggies in my diet, I created this white bean tuna salad with Dijon vinaigrette recipe. And gave my recipe a very descriptive title.

Gently mix diced celery, sweet red bell pepper, and  green onions with Great Northern Beans and tuna fish. Toss it in a light Dijon vinaigrette dressing, add a dash of dill and black pepper, and lunch is served. Whether you mound a scoop onto a toasted bun or enjoy a healthy dollop on a pita toast triangle, you will gain a whole new appreciation for tuna salad. The white beans add an extra punch of protein and the Dijon vinaigrette is made with extra virgin olive oil, a good fat.

My mother is a tuna fish snubber.  Actually, she is an overall seafood snubber who turns 100 shades of green at the slightest whiff of even the freshest catch. Never mind a can of tuna. My firstborn inherited that recessive gene, although she enjoys an occasional tuna salad and gave my recipe a two forks up rating. I hope you do, too!