No-Name-Yet Salad

This is a tuna salad with attitude, the kind of throw-it-together-and-taste recipe that never quite landed on a name. It starts with mashed tuna, chopped hard-boiled eggs and peeled tomatoes, brightened with onion, celery seed and dill relish for crunch and tang.

What pushes it into Cajun territory is the dressing. Mayonnaise and mustard get beaten hard with olive oil, white wine vinegar, Worcestershire, garlic powder and a couple teaspoons of hot pepper sauce, whipped until thick and emulsified. The recipe’s own advice is to beat well at every step, and that’s exactly what gives the dressing its body.

If the mix turns loose from the tomato juices, a handful of crushed saltines tightens it right up. Pile it onto greens, stuff it in a sandwich, or scoop it with crackers.

Kitchen Tips

• Beat the dressing well at each addition, as the recipe insists. A properly emulsified mayo-mustard base coats everything evenly.
• Drain the tomatoes but save a little juice, adding it back sparingly so the salad doesn’t go watery.
• If it does get soupy, crushed saltines thicken it and add body without changing the flavor much.
• Chill before serving so the flavors meld and the dressing firms up.

Variations

• Use canned salmon in place of tuna for a richer salad.
• Dial the hot sauce up or down to taste, or add diced celery for extra crunch.
• Fold in chopped pickles or capers for more brininess.