Tuna Cakes

My grandma used to make something similar to this when I was a kid, but out of canned salmon. I'm not a big fan of canned salmon, and I'm a big fan of adding herbs to things, so I revamped her "recipe" to use tuna and fresh herbs. You can make them small and serve with veggies and potatoes or rice, or make them larger and serve on a hamburger bun. A single can of tuna and 1 egg combine to feed 2 people, and it really is a good way to "fancy up" canned tuna. I bought this can on sale for $.79, and the fresh herbs are from my little herb garden, so this recipe really is cheap.

What you'll need:

This time around I used fresh basil, fresh thyme, and green onion, but you can also use fresh or dried dill and green or red onion. I have tried dried basil and thyme and they really take away from the fresh flavour of the tuna cakes. You can use fresh lemon juice or bottled. If you have some pieces of stale bread or crackers, you can crush them up instead of buying bread crumbs. The mayo you see there is "light" mayo that I mistakenly bought while high on morphine. It's fine for things like this, but kind of icky in sandwiches. Go for the real thing or disguise the flavour with herbs.

Drain your tuna well, and then combine in a bowl with the egg, green onion, basil, and thyme. Squeeze in the juice of 1/4 of the lemon (about 2 teaspoons) and add pepper to taste. Kitchen scissors make quick work of the green onion and basil (roll it up into a cigar shape, then slice). Mix well, but don't break the tuna up too much. You want pieces of tuna, not some weird paste.

Once you have everything mixed, add about 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs and a tablespoon of mayo. Mix well.

Roll into balls and flatten. Coat in breadcrumbs.If you aren't going to eat all of the mixture tonight, store the leftovers in the fridge, unshaped, for a maximum of a day and a half. Don't let it sit longer than that. Trust me.

Fry the tuna cakes over medium heat in a frying pan, with a little bit of oil or butter, until golden brown on both sides

Enjoy!

This recipe will make enough for 2 people

Ingredients:

• 1 can of tuna, packed in water, drained
• 1 green onion, sliced
• fresh basil and thyme or dill, or dried dill
• black pepper (to taste)
• 1 egg
• juice of 1/4 of a lemon, or 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon of mayo
• 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs, plus extra to coat
• 1/2 tablespoon of oil or butter, for frying

Preparation:

• In a bowl, combine tuna, green onion, herbs, egg, and lemon juice. Mix to combine, but don't make a paste.
• Add breadcrumbs and mayo, stir to combine
• Shape into patties and fry in oil or butter over medium heat until golden brown
• Store any unused mixture in fridge for a maximum of 1 1/2 days

Serves 2

Fried Rice

Homemade fried rice is a great answer to leftover rice (either from cooking too much or a Friday night Chinese food binge), and it's cheap, easy, and filling. I usually use a pork chop and egg as my protein, but you can just as easily substitute chicken, beef, or tofu for the pork.

Start with your meat or tofu. Cut it into fairly small bite size pieces. A fairly simple marinade will add a lot of flavour to your rice at relatively little expense, assuming you have everything on hand. If you're missing one or two things, leave them out. The soy sauce and garlic are all that is really necessary.

Use about 2 teaspoons of each of the ingredients, except the ginger, garlic, and dried chilis - cut it back to about 1 teaspoon each. I use jarred minced garlic because it's easier and really doesn't cost any more than fresh garlic, but you can use a clove of chopped garlic if you'd like.  Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl, toss the meat or tofu to coat, and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to 4 hours.

When you're ready to start cooking, gather your veggies and chop. This time I used white onion, celery, broccoli, frozen red peppers, and frozen peas and carrots. I've also used cabbage and mushrooms in the past when I've had them handy.

Heat a large pot or a wok on medium heat with a little bit of olive or canola oil. Lightly scramble your egg, and then set it aside. Scrambling the egg first ensures you'll have pieces of egg in your finished rice, instead of rice coated in cooked egg.

Next, cook your meat and veggies. Be careful not to overcook the veggies or your rice will be mushy.

When the veggies and meat/tofu are cooked to your liking, dump in the rice. Leftover rice works best for this, because it's not as wet as fresh rice, but if you're really craving fried rice you can use freshly cooked rice.

Madly stir the rice around so it soaks up any of the lingering meat marinade and starts to brown. At this point, add about a tablespoon of soy sauce and a little bit of rice vinegar if you have it handy.

When the rice is hot, add the egg and continue to cook only until everything is hot. If you overcook the egg will be rubbery.

Dinner's ready! The recipe below will make 4-5 servings of rice. Feel free to use whatever veggies and proteins you have on hand.

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 pork chop, chicken breast or thigh, slab of extra-firm tofu, or beef
• Meat/tofu marinade:
• 2 tsp. soy sauce
• 2 tsp. hoisin sauce
• 2 tsp. seasoned rice vinegar
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp. minced garlic or 1 garlic clove, finely minced
• 1 tsp. dried chilis
• 1 tsp. ground ginger or grated fresh ginger
• pepper to taste
• Veggies 
• A combined 3-4 cups of:
• carrots
• onions
• celery
• cabbage
• mushrooms
• red or green peppers
• broccoli
• or anything else you have on hand that would taste good! 
• 2 cups of cooked rice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons seasoned rice vinegar

- Cut meat/tofu into bite-size pieces
- Mix marinade ingredients and toss meat/tofu to coat. Let sit in fridge for 30 minutes - 4 hours
- Chop veggies into bite-size pieces
- Heat 1/2 tablespoon olive or canola oil over medium heat in a large pot. Lightly scramble egg, then set aside.
- In same pot, cook meat/tofu and veggies just until meat is cooked and veggies are slightly softened
- Add rice, soy sauce, and rice vinegar. Stir to combine.
- When rice is hot, add egg. Don't overcook!

Enjoy!

Panini without a press!

I think I just ate the best sandwich of my entire life... a turkey sandwich, on sourdough bread, grilled like a panini (but without a press).



Start with two generous slices of sourdough bread. Spread minced garlic and mayo on one side and spicy brown mustard on the other. Arrange fresh basil on one side.



Add old cheddar cheese and thinly sliced red onion:



And then some turkey, tomatoes and black pepper:



Spread the outside with butter, and cook in a frying pan. In order to get a sandwich this thick to warm in the middle before it burns on the outside, you need to weigh it down. If you don't have a panini press or a George Foreman grill, you can use a regular loaf pan. Wrap it in tinfoil and fill it with hot water. Carefully balance it on top of your sandwich. If you use hot water it will also keep the sandwich warm while you grill the second side.



Enjoy!