Cold Noodle Salad With Tuna & Chili

During the summer, I live off of pasta salads. I’m always thinking of the next one I’ll make, excited to try new combinations of flavors and ingredients. It’s the best thing to make because when it’s hot out, I hate standing over a stove and the 10ish minutes it takes to boil pasta is the only thing I can take. Really I just want to be able to stand in the coolness of the fridge, pick out a few things easy to prepare, and have something ready to eat in a few minutes that’s filling.

For this recipe, both the noodles and the tuna can be made ahead of time and left in the fridge overnight. They’re both delicious on their own as separate meals or sides, but together, they make a satisfying and surprisingly yummy dish, considering the wide array of ingredients that pan several cuisines.

Pasta salad screams summer, but, news flash, it’s not summer right now. It’s 35 degrees outside, but I’m too excited for warm days that I’m already craving cold pasta and getting the itch to try a new salad. For lunch the other day, I had these noodles leftover in my fridge and thought tuna salad on top sounded so good. I made it and it was one of the best flavor combinations I’ve had in a while, totally surprising my taste buds and made for an unbeatable workday lunch.

Tuna salad
• 1 can of tuna packed in olive oil*
• 2 tbsp red onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp capers, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp distilled white vinegar
• 2 tbsp mayo
• 1 cup celery, thinly sliced (about 2-3 large stalks, but it’s up to you how much)
• Salt, pepper

1. Finely chop a few thin slices of red onion and add to a medium sized bowl. Season generously with salt, then cover with vinegar and let sit to lightly pickle.

2. Add in the chopped capers and celery. Toss them in the vinegar and onion mixture.

3. Open the can of tuna and lift the chunks out of the oil, instead of dumping it all in. Leave behind remaining oil.

4. Add mayo and pepper and lightly mix to combine – the tuna pieces shouldn’t be fully mashed, just broken up a bit but still in small chunks. Taste and add salt if needed.

*If there’s one thing I know from making tons of tuna salad over the years, it’s that tuna packed in olive oil is the best. There isn’t a lot of mayo in this, only two tablespoons, so the tuna needs a bit of fat to prevent it from drying out. The oil also makes tuna look and taste less like cat food and more like flavorful chunks of meaty fish. Win-win.

Chili noodles
• 1 lb of any noodle shape (spaghetti, linguine, etc)*
• 8 tbsp neutral oil (canola, grapeseed, etc)
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes, chopped to break them up
• 3 large garlic cloves, grated
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp white cane sugar
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• Handful of chopped parsley

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add oil to a small saucepan and let it heat up over medium-high heat.

2. Meanwhile, mix all other ingredients (minus the noodles) in a medium sized bowl. When the oil is hot, carefully pour it over the mixture and set the bowl aside.

3. Add pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Drain and let sit for a few minutes while tossing occasionally, to cool them down and evaporate any water sitting on the noodles.

4. Once the noodles are still warm but not steaming, add them to a large serving/mixing bowl. Pour in the oil mixture and parsley and toss until evenly coated.

5. Taste and add more soy sauce and sesame oil as needed.

*This makes a big pot of chili noodles, way more than what you need for tuna salad made using one can of tuna. But they keep so well in the fridge and are so delicious cold out of the fridge for a midnight snack that I always make a full batch.

You can truly just eat out of both bowls simultaneously, alternating one bite at a time. But to make it a single dish, take a portion of noodles and toss them together with a few spoonfuls of tuna salad. This very lightly coats the noodles in a bit of mayo and capers, making the dish more homogenous. When ready to serve, top with a generous dollop of tuna salad and dig in.