Tarragon Tuna Melt

My family and I love tuna melts! We’ll definetely try this one! Ours are usually open faced. My fanciest one to date was made with diced onion, sweet peppers(orange & purple- you can use any sweet pepper),diced celery, cranberry mustard, honey mustard, relish and miracle whip. If your taste buds can handle it, some pepper flakes or tabasco, also. The salad is topped on wheat bread slices, then a slice of cheese, Sargento Chipotle- for a little kick, or Swiss, or any cheese, thinly sliced heirloom tomato, which are available this time of year at our local farmers’ markets in Boston. The final topping is some grated Parmesan cheese, then under the broiler it goes until browned. It’s a bit of extra work, but well worth it!

Swiss and tuna on rye toast.

I make almost an identical tuna melt with lime zest and juice instead of lemon. It is delicious! I love tarragon with fish. Try it on grilled sour dough or rye. Incredibly addictive!

I love tarragon but can’t eat egg or soy (no mayo–even vegan mayo–for me). I made this recipe using an egg-free, soy-free avocado-based mayonnaise substitute. Delicious. I posted about it here: http://aprovechar.danandsally.com/?p=133

I like to put sweet pickles & curry powder (my own mix – changes slightly every time) and sometimes onion in my tuna salad. I’m a traditionalist on the cheese, though – American. This is a comfort food.

I’ve made the grilled cheese part with nan (the bread from an Indian Resturant) the last few times in my George Forman Grill. I put the tuna in after the rest of the sandwich is grilled. Excuse me, I’m hungry now.

Havarti, tuna, mayo, green olives, cayenne flakes and some mustard … on an english muffin

Trust me on this: grate Havarti into the tuna-mayo mixture, and then grill. Havarti and tuna are a match made in heaven

Sounds delicious! I usually make my tuna melts a very odd way in that I basically sauté my tuna. I put in some cayenne pepper, curry powder, cumin powder, regular pepper, kosher salt (just a dash), onion, and garlic. Then I sauté everything with the tuna in a frying pan until you can get the aroma of everything mixed together, since the tuna is already cooked of course, you don’t need to have it on there too long. That goes on already toasted 7 grain bread in the toaster oven and is covered with a slice of meunster, then I broil it and sometimes add on a piece of cold iceberg lettuce before I close the sandwich and devour.

Wow, so many comments, and I still have something new to add! Tuna melts are a winter staple in our house, and we always go with my husband’s favorite — open-faced on english muffins (toasted first) with sliced tomato and a good Vermont cheddar. In the tuna salad go chopped white onions, and DILL RELISH. I usually use plain yogurt instead of mayo, just personal preference. I’m going to try this one, though!

I think my best tuna melt ever was at a gluten free bakery cafe, Panne Rizo, in Vancouver, Canada. It was on their amazing gluten free panini bread and served in this adorable plastic basket with paper just like fish and chips. So tasty!

At home I mostly just make grilled cheese sandwiches in a sandwich press- but I often add a really tasty mustard or pesto (not both together, of course). Since I love tuna fish salad, I should add it more often… the fresh herb aspect of this recipe is inspiring me!

-Sea