It Is, But It Isn't

I don't know where the weekend might have gone, but gone it is and Monday disappeared right along with it. My goodness it's been busy around here somehow. And now it's Tuesday and I haven't posted since Friday. And only twice last week. You guys have asked some great questions and I'm working on some good posts out of them. Don't be afraid to ask some more today on that post if you missed it.

Today, though, I wanted to share this great recipe with you that I tried on the weekend. It was so easy and sooo good. And pretty healthy to boot. It's packed with fiber because of the beans and the olive oil instead of mayo makes it a healthy fat. And bonus: it doesn't heat up the kitchen. I found the link on someone's blog but now I can't remember who that was. But it was originally taken from this recipe. The person modified it to their tastes, and I too modified it a bit to use what I had on hand rather than running to the grocery store yet again. I know you might have read tuna melt and had the urge to run screaming from the room. Believe me, I did too. I've never liked tuna melts. Even though I love tuna, the mixture of tuna, mayo and melted process cheese always caused a rebellion in my mouth. But trust me, this one is different. The blend of ingrediants, which I never would have thought to put together, along with texture of the softer filling and then hitting the crunch of the grilled bread put this over the top and officially makes me forget that it really is a tuna melt. Even though, you know, it is. And I'll let you in on a secret. If you insist on watching your carbs, I know you people are out there, it's even good just eating it from a bowl without piling it on the bun.

The "Make You Forget it's a Tuna Melt" Tuna Melt (adapted from Rachel Ray)
4-6 servings (count on each adult eating 1 -2 bun halves)

-2 6oz. cans chunk tuna in water, drained and flaked
-1 large can white beans, about 1 1/2 cups (either navy, cannellini, or chickpeas. I used chickpeas because that is what I had, but I'll bet the other beans would give the filling a creamier texture)
-1 large or two smaller tomatoes
-2 stalks celery, sliced
-4 Tbsp. olive oil (I used extra virgin), divided
-3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice or Real Lemon
-fresh ground pepper to taste
-1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 1 tsp. dried (fresh is sooo much better!)
-1 1/2 cups finely grated cheese of your choice (I used marble because that is what I had, Rachel used swiss)
-4 large ciabatta buns cut in half (I used the big triangle shaped ones from Costco)

Place 2 Tbsp. of the olive oil into small bowl and set aside. Set aside half the cheese.

Rinse and drain the beans well. Place in bowl and add tuna. Slice the tomato into eighths and scoop all the seeds and wet stuff out with your fingers. Chop the tomato flesh into small bite size pieces. Add all the rest of the ingrediants except the buns and stir well.

Heat bbq to medium heat. Brush both sides of each bun half with the reserved olive oil. Place on grill cut side down. When toasted and grill marked flip over and turn the heat down a bit. Pile on the filling equally on all bun halves. Add the remaining grated cheese on top, cover and grill until the cheese melts and bottom of bun is toated. Keep an eye that you've turned the heat down enough not to burn the bottoms of the buns as the cheese melts.

Awesome served with grilled vegetables such as asparagus or a spinach or baby greens salad.