Deconstructed Tuna Salad

My parents found this recipe, it's pretty phenomenal. The ingredients are pretty simple, but their individual preparations really take this dish to the next level. 

Tomato

In-season summer tomatoes are sweet and juicy; their winter counterparts not so much. Winter tomatoes tend to be a bit bland. A quick marinade helps bring out the flavor of winter tomatoes, and you wouldn't hardly know the difference. Simply slice up a tomato, season both sides gently with sugar, salt, and chili powder, let them hang out for 15 minutes and voila - summer tomatoes :)

Onion

Raw onions have a bite, with red onions being the mildest of them all (and therefore best suited to eat raw). A 50/50 marinade of water and red wine vinegar softens up the flavor even further and adds a richness and complexity to the onions. Slice up the onions and let marinade for at least 20 minutes.

Capers

Capers are typically brined in a heavy salt solution. This preserves them, but if the salt flavor is too intense straight out of the jar, a quick rinse under running water helps make them more palatable.

Tuna

For this dish, we used tuna belly or fatty tuna or toro as it's known in sushi houses. It's a very desirable cut of fish, as it's oily and high in omega-3s. Even if using regular tuna, I always prefer to get the one that's been packed in oil rather than water. I find that tuna packed in oil tends to be more moist and has better flavor. Plus you can use a bit of the oil as part of the dish.

Parsley and Basil Dressing

The parsley and basil dressing came from this recipe. Ok, the entire dish was inspired by that recipe, but I didn't figure it out until now.. oh well.

Overall, this is a great lunch, snack, or light dinner, no matter the season. I'll definitely be making this again soon :)