Tuna, Pepper and Cannellini Bean Salad
- 5 oz lettuce
- 5 oz cannellini beans , boiled
- 3 ½ oz bell peppers
- ½ lb drained tuna
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 red onion , small
- 1 lemon
- ½ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- salt and pepper to taste
Carefully wash the lettuce, then dry and arrange on a serving dish.
Wash and dry the peppers, then cut in half and remove the white parts inside. Then dice. Wash the tomatoes, then quarter them. Peel the onion and slice into thin rounds.
Arrange the cannelloni beans on the bed of lettuce. Next, add the tuna, broken up into small pieces. Add the tomatoes, peppers and onion.
Dress the salad with a dressing made from whisking together lemon juice, oil, a pinch of salt and a grinding of pepper.
Food History
Made with only vegetables or enriched with other ingredients, salads hold an important place in Italian cuisine – even if they are often given a minor role as a side dish of a meal. Since ancient times, Mediterranean diet in general, and that of the people living on the Italian peninsula in specific, has always included a rich variety of vegetables. In ancient Rome, for example, a vegetable-based diet was considered not only virtuous, but also healthy. The consumption of vegetables and wine distinguished the upper classes from the barbarians whose diet was based primarily on meat and milk. The belief in the benefits of a vegetable-based diet was passed down through the centuries in Italy. In the 16th century, doctor Costanzo Felici actually documented that eating vegetables was seen by foreigners as something distinctively Italian and who made for of Italians for their culinary preferences.
Did you know that…
That the term salad derives from the Latin word “sal” or salt? According to the ancient medical theories, salt was one of the fundamental condiments of salads because it helps to draw out the natural humidity in the vegetables.
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