Ceci con il Tonno - Garbanzo Beans with Tuna

Garbanzo beans aren't my first bean love. In fact, they don't even come in second or third. I much prefer cannellini, or black beans, lentils, fava, navy, great northern... The list goes on for a while.

I don't really have anything against them, and enjoy eating them if served to me, but I have found that in my pantry, though I usually have a can or two of garbanzos, I rarely ever use them. In fact, the only times I have in as far back as I remember was when I was making one of two Tunisian dishes: either a Tunisian couscous BelKhodhra (with vegetables) or Lablabi, Tunisia's unofficial national dish.

Needless to say, the garbanzo section of SS was being ignored. I hadn't even browsed through it, let alone post-it'ed a recipe within it.

It was the lovely Molly who gave me a yearning for this bean and more specifically, for a simple salad made with it. And while the recipe she'd posted looked amazing, I thought I'd check to see what SS offered. So there it was, Garbanzo and Tuna salad. It seemed like an odd combination but I figured I'd give it a chance.

The recipe was incredibly easy. I mixed one cup of canned garbanzo beans with 5 ounces of tuna (preferably dark packed in olive oil, something Spanish or Italian. I used Flott tuna.)
For the dressing, I whisked 6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil with 2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar and seasoned it with salt and pepper.

The recipe said to serve the salad right after dressing it, but I found that letting it sit a bit after dressing it allowed the flavours to mingle nicely. The salad was delicious!

I garnished it with some chopped parsley, and we devoured it. What a great find. This is going on my list of quick pantry recipes.

Tasty Factor: A+ Ease of Preparation: A+ Modifications: Not really. Although I might add a tiny bit of garlic next time. Just a touch.