- ¼ cup prepared pesto or ¼ cup olive oil plus ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- 2 cans (16 ounces each) white cannellini beans or chick-peas
- 3 cans (7 ounces each) tuna
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- 4 ripe tomatoes
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 bunch watercress
- If you don’t have prepared pesto on hand, first mix the olive oil with the basil in a blender or food processor. Drain and rinse the beans. Drain the tuna.
- Combine the lemon juice with the pesto in a mixing bowl, then add the beans and tuna.
- Quarter the tomatoes, spoon out the seeds, and finely chop the flesh. Add the tomatoes to the bowl. Toss the ingredients together and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Rinse the watercress. Chop the watercress leaves into the salad or serve the salad over sprigs of watercress.
- Variation
- My friend Dana Jacobi, food writer, consultant, and connoisseur, suggested a delicious combination of white beans with smoked tuna fish. With the few changes outlined below, the above salad accommodates the smoked fish rather nicely.
- Omit the pesto. Finely mince 1 shallot, 2 scallions (green onions), or a bunch of fresh chives. Also mince ½ cup fresh parsley leaves. Dice 1 pound smoked tuna. Combine ¼ cup olive oil and ¼ cup lemon juice and add the minced shallot, scallions or chives, and parsley. Add the drained beans, smoked tuna, and tomatoes. Toss well, season, and serve over watercress.