Tuna Melt Sandwich - Recipe

I don't make gooey, cheesy, Tuna Melts nearly enough. Maybe it's just too much of a good thing. 

A Tuna Melt is basically Grilled Cheese with Tuna Salad. My Tuna Melt recipe uses a simple Tuna Salad of drained canned tuna, mayo, pickle relish, and chopped onion. I have a great Loaded Tuna Salad a click away here (it has the addition of a chopped boiled egg and olives.) 

Tuna Salad ingredients are still cheap to get at my 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. Even regular grocery stores sell cans of tuna and pickle relish at bargain prices. Mayo is more expensive these days, but I often find small jars at my Dollar Tree.

I add American Cheese to my grilling Tuna Salad Sandwich. You can use any favorite slices of cheese. 

Experiment with any favorite bread for toasting. I get mine from the bakery bargain bin at Ralphs Grocery store. 

 

I toast the bread with a small pat of butter. You can use a butter substitute or no butter at all.

Making a Tuna Melt is simply delicious when you do it the 99 Cent Chef way.

                                                  Tuna Melt - VIDEO                               Play it here, video runs 3 minutes and 3 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here. 

Ingredients (about 2 sandwiches)

• 1 can tuna - a 5-ounce can "chunk." Drain the tuna of liquid. I press down the tuna with the can lid to squeeze out water - be careful as the can lid can be sharp. 
• American Cheese - 1 slice per sandwich. Okay to use any favorite including cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, or pepper Jack.
• Onion - 1 tablespoon chopped. Purple, white, green, or yellow onion.
• Sweet Pickle Relish - 1 tablespoon. okay to use chopped pickle.
• Mayonnaise - 1 Tablespoon. Add more or less to suit your taste.
• Pepper to taste - about half a teaspoon. I find canned tuna salty enough, so I leave out the salt.

*For a can of "Solid" tuna double the amounts of onion, relish, and mayonnaise.

Directions

Fine-chop onion. It's okay to leave out the onion if you don't like it.

Drain one can of tuna. "Chunk" tuna which is loosely packed. If you use "Solid" tuna you will get twice as much in a can so you should almost double the amounts of chopped onion, pickle relish, and mayo. 

To a bowl add drained tuna and chopped onion.

Add one tablespoon of mayo. Okay to add a teaspoon at a time to reach desired creaminess. Mix all ingredients and taste. 

Add more mayonnaise if needed. I like to add black pepper but no salt, as I find canned tuna is salty enough.

Store Tuna Salad in the refrigerator until ready to use in a Tuna Melt. 

Grilling a Tuna Melt

To complete the recipe build and grill the Tuna Melt. I start with a pat of butter in a frying pan or stovetop grill over medium heat. It's okay to just toast bread without butter or oil.

When the butter is melted drag the bread slices through the butter. Now assemble the Tuna Melt.

With the buttered side down, I like to add a slice of cheese to the bread first. Next, I pile on some Tuna Salad. Finally, top it all with another lightly buttered slice of bread. 

Having the cheese on the bottom nearest the flame gets it to start melting-- that's what makes a Tuna Melt so special.

It only takes a few minutes to toast the bread, so peek under it as it cooks so you don't burn the sandwich. 

You may find Tuna Salad breaking down a little bit during toasting as it warms, so be careful when turning the sandwich during toasting as some Tuna Salad may spill out.

My High School Diet 2 During Coronavirus

Welcome back to my reviews of High School Meals during Covid-19. As my last blog post mentioned, I am picking up carryout High School meals for a week and will give detailed accounts of the High School dining experience.

Pop-Tarts & Grilled Cheese

I have no idea what schools are feeding kids these days so read on to see for yourself. I'll be sharing a different breakfast and lunch meal every 6 days. I think you'll be as surprised as I am of the good, the bad, and the ugly...oh boy.

Click on any photo to see larger.

These meals are Grab & Go from my local High School. I'm sure regular school cafeteria fare is different (better?) than the ones I am getting carryout at the drive-thru lane. You can click here to see the first meal I had at my neighborhood Grab & Go.

The GIF above is a drive-thru Susan Miller Dorsey High School's Grab & Go. 

Well, this week my Breakfast and Lunch Meals are definitely old school, Pop-Tarts and a Grill Cheese Sandwich.

Day 2 Breakfast - Pop-Tarts, Milk (always Milk for every meal,) Juicy Juice, and Apple slices.

You get two Pop-Tarts in a package. They are the size you are used to, a little bit smaller than a slice of toast.

Pop-Tarts were filled with an apple sauce or jam. The thin smear of tart filling is quite tasty if a bit over-sweet like typical grocery fruit jam. The apple jam is flavored with cinnamon. A strong amount of spice, but it works with the soft cookie-like pastry.

Pop-Tart ingredients & nutrition facts

And there is that hard sugar frosting shell on top that softens when toasted. It's super sweet of course, just the way I remember them. When Pop-Tarts originally appeared on grocery selves in 1964, I was 10 years old, and when we first had them it was a memorable day, indeed. They were a favorite at my breakfast table. And so convenient for late-running student sleepy-heads.

It's been quite a while since I had one and boy do they hold up as a cheap breakfast pastry. I see them all the time at my local Dollar Tree, too.

Fooducate  Heath Tracker info on Cinnamon Pop-Tarts is here.

A 2-ounce bag of Apple Slices accompanies Pop-Tarts. It appears to be from a Gala apple. I like that type over the other most-grown Red Delicious.

The Apple Slices are crisp and have that tart and sweet taste I enjoy so well.

I've never had Juicy Juice before. This one is an Orange Medley.  The ingredient list is a bit surprising with sweet potato and carrot juices, too. At least there is no added sugar.

It is a light orange flavor upfront and after a few sips, I could barely detect sweet potato and carrot flavors lingering. While a perplexing fruit and veggie combo, I liked it.

Day 2 Lunch - Grilled Cheese Sandwich, Milk (always Milk for every meal,) Jungle Crackers, and Celery Sticks.

For lunch, it's a fave most students can't help but like, a Grilled Cheese. I love Grilled Cheese Sandwiches forever! This one was packaged with no label so I'm guessing the types of the specific ingredients...is it American Cheese and White Bread with Butter? I hope so.

Fortunately dietary and health food restrictions have not changed this L.A. high school version. It hits all the right tastebud pleasure zones.

This Grilled Cheese has a thick slab of American style cheese. Buttered (?) and lightly browned white (?) bread cradle the cheese. I reheated the sandwich on a skillet, being careful to not burn the toasted bread. I just want the cheese melted.

Once heated through, It's a gooey Cheese Sandwich, just the way it should be. And not too much butter or oil on the toast. The balance is just about right for a classic Grilled Cheese. Bravo to Los Angeles Unified Schools Grab & Go Meals!

A bag of Celery Sticks is included. It's from 2 to 3 ounces. I'm not a big fan of raw celery (I will stirfry the heck out of them), especially without a dip. But I'm sure veggie-friendly kids eat it up.

For dessert is a small one-ounce bag of Jungle Crackers, which are basically Animal Crackers.

We used to have them in a cardboard box in the shape of a colorful circus-style crate. Definitely not a sensitive package design in these cage-free days, but back then we didn't give it a thought.

It's a hard cookie, and mildly sweet, with a touch of vanilla and cinnamon -- a less pungent graham cracker. Ingredients like whole wheat are used, and I'm sure there is less added sugar. The package says "no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives." I found a website, Fooducate, that gives nutrition grades, click here to see one for Jungle Crackers.

 I still like Animal Crackers even if it's been decades since I ate them. Old-school classic cookies never go out of style for me.

For reviews or info about the purveyors of these food items you can check out Fooducate, just enter a product food name and see what pops up about it: https://www.fooducate.com/

And you can learn about Los Angeles Unified School District's Cafe LA (which supplies a lot of the packaged food) here: https://achieve.lausd.net/cafela

And do check back in a few days for more of my latest food series High School Meals.

Be safe & keep your distance!

Rainy Days and Grilled Cheese - Video Short

The 99 Cent Chef loves rainy days in LA. The dramatic build up; the sounds of rain and the clean air that follows. Taking it all in at the kitchen window, while grilling a cheese sandwich, is the perfect pairing.



In the past few months, I've found an abundance of cheese at the 99c only Stores, including Monterey Jack, European Swiss, French Petite Buche, Imported Austrian and good old American. But beware; they stock cheese made with vegetable oil, an abomination; I do have standards.






For a miscegenation of cheeses, try combining three cheeses to make a delicious rainy day grilled cheese sandwich. French goat cheese blends well with American and Swiss. For color, layer white and yellow cheese.








A sourdough or multi-grain bread works well, as toasting brings out the flavor of the grains. I like to grill my sandwich in a little butter.
Use plenty of cheese, as nothing is more pleasing than a gooey grilled cheese sandwich.

I've collected rainy day video footage for awhile now. Enjoy the montage.

Play it here. The video is 2 minutes.

Do you have a favorite rainy day recipe?

 To embed or view the Chef's video on youtube, click here..