So anyway, I promise that pimento cheese is much tastier than it might look in the above photo. If you’re not a Southerner, you may not have heard of this spread, which is extremely easy to make, and is a pretty yummy snack. Since we’ve been exercising more, we’ve found the need to keep more quick and easy snacks or meals on hand, so I made a batch last week. We like to use it to fill celery sticks (so you can tell yourself you’re balancing out the healthiness of mixing cheese with mayo), or spread it on sandwiches. If you’re going to put it on a sandwich, I think it’s much, much better if you toast the sandwich (in a toaster oven, already filled with the spread, so the cheese gets gooey and melty), but there are those in my family that disagree and think it’s better without toasting. Either way, you should give it a try, as it takes all of 10 minutes to whip up a batch.

Pimento Cheese

small jar of pimento peppers
1 lb. medium cheddar cheese (Apparently my grandmother always used blocks of American cheese, but I think I probably prefer the sharper taste of cheddar)
sugar
mayonnaise

Chop pimenotos (I use my food processor). Sprinkle with sugar, a couple tablespoons or so. Add very finely grated cheese. (I use my food processor to grate the cheese onto the pimentos, and then, since I don’t have a fine enough chopping blade, I stick the regular blade back in there and chop it up more finely.) Transfer to a bowl, and mix in some mayonnaise, just enough to hold everything together. (This was probably a few tablespoons or so of mayo, I’m not exactly sure). Spread on crackers, celery sticks, or make into sandwiches.

I’m only a little embarrassed to admit that the inspiration for this salad was one of those fliers they have near the door at Whole Foods. I know it’s not all that creative or unusual, but what can I say, sometimes I just need a little push to think outside my narrow little box. I’ve always made tuna salad pretty much as I had it growing up, with canned tuna, mayonnaise, relish, salt and pepper, and maybe a little celery if I have it. Which is all well and good, but with all that mayo, it’s not very good for you. This is a healthier alternative which, when served over some nice leafy greens, makes for a pretty balanced meal. It’s great after a hot or long day, when you don’t feel like spending too much time in the kitchen, and we keep all the ingredients for it on hand. We don’t really have a set recipe and it varies every time we make it, but here’s the gist of it.

Tuna Salad with Chickpeas

2 6 oz. cans of tuna, drained
1 can of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
1/3 onion, chopped
juice from half a lemon
~1/3 c olive oil
a few generous glugs balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper

Mix together tuna, chickpeas, onion, and salt and pepper. Whisk together remaining ingredients. Add dressing a little bit at a time until you are satisfied with the dressing/salad ratio.

Possible variations/additions:
some chopped herbs (We added parsley this time. Rosemary is also good.)
zest from one lemon (Also added this time.)
capers or olives
barely cooked carrots
barely cooked or raw green beans
white beans instead of chickpeas