I didn’t grow up eating tuna melts. I heard of them for the first time in the cafeteria line at Hillsdale College. If you could have seen them, I’m sure you’d understand why I didn’t hazard a first try on those greasy, mass-produced mounds of goop. I new that if I had a fighting chance of ever liking the dish, I couldn’t experience it for the first time under those conditions.
Recently, however, I joined Costco (hallelujah!) and bought a bunch of canned tuna and wild caught Alaskan salmon – and found myself at a bit of a loss. What to do with so much canned fish? Eventually, the tuna melt idea floated through my mind, so I decided to try it on my own terms. After a little experimentation, I came up with the following recipe that J and I both really enjoy (my mom just approved it too). To accommodate my gluten allergy, I use bell pepper halves instead of bread. It works equally well for tuna or salmon, and I love it as a last minute dinner. Spiked with dijon mustard, dill, and lots of black pepper, it offers lots of flavor for almost no effort. Especially these days, amidst the hustle and bustle of preparing our home for the market (can I just say that home ownership is overrated?), that kind of ease is priceless.
Salmon or Tuna Melts in Bell Pepper Halves
Serves 4
2 to 3 red, yellow, or orange bell peppers
12 ounces canned wild-caught salmon or light tuna (albacore contains higher mercury levels)
1 to 2 stalks celery, finely minced
1/4 cup shallot or onion, finely minced
4 to 6 tablespoons mayonnaise (I’ve been using Wilderness Family Natural’s mayo)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons dried dill or fresh amount to taste
cheddar cheese, grated or thinly sliced (I prefer Organic Valleys extra sharp raw cheddar or my local raw dairy’s offerings)
Core the bell peppers and cut in half lengthwise. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, mix the fish, celery, shallot or onion, mayo, Dijon, black pepper, and dill. Divide evenly among bell pepper halves. Top with cheese.
Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. The fish mixture should be warmed through, the cheese melted, and the bell pepper tender but still with some bite to it.
Sounds delish….just might need to try this for dinner tonight!
I love stuffed peppers… it feels so classy.
I haven’t tried salmon or any other fish, but perhaps I’ll have to give it a shot.
By the way, a good-sized pile of carrot sticks on the other half of the plate is very ‘me,’ too.
My lunches are frequently 50% carrot sticks. What can I say? Convenient vegetable.
This sounds SO good! What a great idea and I can’t wait to give this a try! My hubby loves tuna melts and this will be a great way to change it up. Thanks!
First of all, thanks for your response on your homeopath. Second, does Costco really help you save money? My diet is mostly meat (large quantity) eggs, and veggies and my husband is vegetarian and eats a lot of cheese and veggie meat substitutes (which I’m sorta against) so I’m wondering if it would help us budget wise…Like can you save on produce and meat?
Thanks for the lovely tuna melt recipe. Not much of a tuna fan but I might try it with salmon. By the way, using just mayonnaise, parmesan cheese, and a little lemon juice and a couple shakes of cayenne pepper might be a good recipe for that as well because I make salmon filets topped with that mixture, and then topped with cracker crumbs. But it’s just simply lemon juice on the salmon, then blend together a couple tablespoons of mayo, a tablespoon or more of parmesan and a few shakes of cayenne. I like cayenne so I use enough to really see the red specks. Anyway the combo is really tasty! Might try it in a bell pepper without the cracker crumbs.
Looks yummy– I bet it would make a nice summer supper, maybe with a fresh salad.
[...] mentioned yesterday that I recently bought a Costco membership, and Juanita asked whether I find that I really save [...]
Lorri — Thanks! If you try it, I hope you like it.
Lizzykristine — Ah, yes, the ubiquitous carrot. I have a hard time getting away from them. They are so easy to prepare and so tasty. I think they’re here to stay in my home.
April in CT — I hope you two find the changes to your liking.
Juanita — I just wrote a whole post to answer the Costco question. Your recipe sounds great! I bet the lemon juice does what the dijon mustard does — gives it a bit of tang and zest. We like cayenne too.
Toiling Ant — Yes, I think I’ll keep this one up during the summer months.
I have tons of canned red salmon and this looks great…my husband and I plan to try them with fontina cheese, which melts really well!
Oooooh, fontina sounds great! Let me know how it goes.
[...] almost always choose mustard over mayonnaise. Yet, for some tasks, like my new favorite salmon melt recipe, only mayo will do. I don’t know what that means for my personality, but it does present [...]
this looks really good. Now I know what boy3 and I are going to have for lunch today. thanks for the idea!
I’ve never understood the tuna melt thing either. Luckily they aren’t as popular in the UK.
These salmon melts sound great – I love the idea of turning the vegetables and oily fish into an easy, nutritious lunch. Canned salmon and bell peppers are ingredients that we always have in stock at home.
How to stop by and tell you that I made these for lunch today and YUMMMMMY! I made mine in the red pepper, but my girls aren’t crazy about red peppers in “large” size, so I put theirs on top of a piece of homemade wheat/flax bread. They LOVED them. I wasn’t sure, they both love salmon, but my oldest can get to be like her daddy where if she notices little green things (celery/onions) in hers she will try to pick them out or something.
But she didn’t even notice them and gobbled it up. Thanks for the idea, I’ve never eaten the tuna melts before either, but I love finding new ways to make salmon and I’m always about red peppers. I will definitely be making this again. Thanks for the review of Costco, we have one in town now, but I’ve never been interested because I disliked Sam’s Club so much. I’ll have to check ours out now.
DeAnna,
Yes, I do love Costco to pieces. I would definitely recommend taking a peek.
I’m so glad you and your girls enoyed them! Thank you for letting me know. It’s always encouraging.
I wanted to follow up with you and let you know that these are great and we have them often as we had bought a case of canned red wild salmon. I vary up the mixture though and use the grapeseed vegenaise. Typically, I use a few finely diced celery sticks, red onion, the “mayo,” some honey mustard, Old Bay, thyme, basil, and sage. And my fontina which is melty and happy. Yum!
Also, I make this in the food processor so I can use the salmon bones, which are highly nutritious (especially in calcium). I hate biting into bones, even chewable ones, and digging them out would be a stinky nightmare. So first I process the salmon very finely for several minutes, add the condiments and spices, blend again, and then just barely blend in the onion and celery.
The leftovers make a great dip (sometimes you may need to add mayo) with crudites for lunch.
~M — Thank you so much for the feedback. I’m glad you enjoy the dish. I recently used Vegenaise myself, and it tasted great.
What a good idea about putting boned salmon in the food processor! I have a can with bones in the pantry that I’ve dreaded using, but now I know exactly what to do. Thanks!