Tuna Salad with Fennel

I was so excited to see the fennel in the last veggie box because it meant I could finally make my tuna salad! I can't remember what TV show I was watching, but one character asked the other why her tuna sandwiches were so good, and she told him her secret ingredient was fennel. For some reason, this scene has always stuck with me, and many, many, many years later, I finally gave it a try. It's really good, and now I pretty much always have to have fennel to make tuna salad, otherwise I don't bother.

This tuna salad recipe has lots of crunchy vegetables in it, with refreshingly bright flavors. It's a little labor intensive if you just need a quick lunch, but if you need to serve 5 or 6 people, or if you want to keep a bowl of it in the fridge for a few days of tuna sandwiches, this is a tasty alternative for the basic mayo, relish & mustard.

Ingredients*

4 cans (6 oz each) tuna packed in oil, drained**

1/2 small red onion

1 small fennel bulb, or a portion of a larger one

3 stalks celery

1 clove garlic

1/3 cup mayonnaise***

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp sweet relish

2 tsp mustard

Chop the onion into a small dice. Do the same with the fennel.

Cut the celery into thin strips and then chop into a small dice.

Mince the garlic.****

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Use to make sandwiches with your favorite bread.

Bon Apetit!

* I have a friend that told me she likes to add a chopped up boiled egg to her tuna salad. I've always wanted to try this, but have yet to have the foresight to actually boil an egg ahead of time to do it. Someday...

** Yes really, packed in oil. This will not turn out right if you use tuna packed in water and you'll just need to add more mayo for moisture. I even have a friend tell me one time that she tried out my recipe and it didn't taste the same. She didn't understand. I asked if she used tuna packed in oil. She said no.

***No, this is not code for Miracle Whip. I can't stand the stuff. There is no point in making this if you use Miracle Whip because the taste of it will obliterate the flavors of all of the other ingredients. Even if you like Miracle Whip, I beg you to just try this wit normal mayo. Unless Miracle Whip had desensitized your taste buds, you may even like it!

****I use "minced" garlic in a lot of my recipes, but I hardly ever actually mince garlic. I use a garlic press, an ingenious device that basically minces the garlic for you. If you don't have one, I strongly suggest you purchase one. They are inexpensive and are an immense time saver.