Protein Bean Salad with Tuna and Onions


Yesterday, Italy announced code red on 8 of its 21 regions due to bad weather. As always, Liguria is one of the worst hit. I do feel for the Ligurians because they can't possibly get all the natural calamities that have been passing through the country lately. Tornadoes, mud slides, flooding, storms, gosh, you name it, they got it. I went there twice this summer and my family and I had been extremely lucky to get very good weather.

One of the 8 regions was Lazio and Rome and the town we live in is in that region. The schools were closed for the day (hooray for my kids!) and we braced for the worst the whole night and day. It didn't seem like it was ever going to arrive until when I was alone at home, while working at the computer, I was perplexed at the sudden looming darkness early in the afternoon. I never saw the sky so black and angry. I was able to get my dog from outside just in the nick of time before the wind, rain and hail got crazy. I grew up with tropical storms and I am so used to them but what hit us yesterday scared the living daylights out of me. With my dog beside me, I armed myself with a flashlight and my phone while we both watched the storm through the window, tear the plants and trees down and listen to the deafening noise of hail and wind bombard the house. What lasted for just a few minutes seemed like hours. 

But don't let me get carried away about the storm. I want to share this very healthy, protein-rich salad that I like preparing whenever I am home alone. I have a few home-alone dishes that I enjoy eating, in front of the TV and this is one of them. I think it's because my husband doesn't like onions, so for that I reserve this dish for myself to enjoy without bothering if anyone is bothered by the smell. I usually use the pre-cooked borlotti beans to cut short the cooking time. Barley takes about 20 minutes to cook which I do ahead of time. The canned tuna and onions give quite a wonderful overall flavor to this protein-packed salad. 

Get this Protein Bean Salad with Tuna and Onions recipe at Skinny Ms. where I create healthy recipes in tune with what the site stands for - healthy living and eating. I hope you'll like this salad!

More Simple Salad Recipes: