A Beloved Pantry Lunch Gets Its Glow Up

EDITORS NOTE: EDS: 3 recipes follow article.); (ART ADV: With photos.

Suppose it’s a very warm summer day. Actually, suppose it’s sweltering. You take refuge somewhere. Maybe there are whirling ceiling fans. Perhaps there’s air conditioning, inadequate but better than nothing. Or, possibly, you’re by the sea, in the shade, with an ocean breeze. In any case, you feel hot, bothered and hungry.

Here’s a meal meant for a day like that. A cool drink -- cool like a cucumber -- is a given. A main-course salad is a fine idea for a warm weather repast. Think tuna, beans, tomatoes. For dessert, something lemony. And fruit.

My further thoughts for a hot day’s menu: cucumber, green apple, maybe ginger. Whiz these ingredients in a blender, add a speck of cayenne, some juice from a lime and ice water. Refreshing. Could be a chilled soup, but it feels more like a zippy agua fresca. A beautiful verdant liquid, mocktailesque.

Pour it into a salt-rimmed glass, add a few ice cubes and a splash of soda water. Voila, a cucumber-apple cooler, a delightful concoction that can be sipped throughout the meal.

But hold on. For those so inclined, the drink could certainly benefit from a jigger of gin and become a brilliant, green alcoholic cocktail. A name change? A gin and cucumber tonic? Sounds almost like a home remedy, and perhaps it is.

Now, for that main-course salad, I’m inspired by the classic Italian pairing of tuna and white beans, which is often part of an antipasto offering. Simple. Good canned tuna and cannellini beans. A drizzle of fruity olive oil. A quick satisfying lunch from the pantry.

But I want to dress it up and give it my own spin. Maybe I’ll cook a pound of white beans, bean-lover that I am. As for tuna, I’ll get fresh tuna and season it with a special mixture of sea salt, black pepper, coriander seed and fennel seed. The tuna will be seared in cast-iron and remain rare.

I’ll also prepare a flavor-packed vinaigrette with red onion, garlic, wine vinegar and extra-virgin olive oil. I want enough dressing to generously coat the beans, strips of roasted pepper and lots of halved cherry tomatoes. It needs to be luscious and bold.

Everything will marinate and mingle for a while, and then reside on a big platter with the sliced tuna on top and a shower of basil leaves.

We’ll call it, Superlative Tuna With White Beans and Cherry Tomatoes.

For dessert, I always want fruit, and lots of great fruit is coming in -- peaches, nectarines and all sorts of berries. But for this summer gathering, I also want a cake.

So I bake a lemon ricotta cake. This I do in the cool of the evening the night before the party or in the early morning. It’s an easy recipe, very lemony and moist, and it keeps well, so it can be made a day or two in advance.

Just before serving, the cake gets apricot preserves spread over the top for an especially sunny presentation. Sliced stone fruit and berries complete the picture.

So, a summery meal for a very warm day, and all is well. By evening, the air is cooling, and no one’s hot or bothered at all.

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Recipe: Seared Tuna With Beans and Tomatoes

The classic Italian combination of canned tuna and white beans is sometimes part of an antipasto table’s offerings. Or it can be a quick, satisfying lunch from the pantry. This version calls for home-cooked beans and seared tuna. It’s further enhanced with roasted red peppers and cherry tomatoes and tossed in a flavorful vinaigrette for a perfect summer meal.

By David Tanis

Total time: About 2 hours

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

For the salad

1 pound dry white beans, such as cannellini or runner beans, or use 6 cups cooked

2 bay leaves

1 small onion, peeled and halved

2 whole cloves

1 small head garlic, halved horizontally

Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

3 medium red bell peppers

1 pound tuna steak (about 3/4-inch thick)

6 cups halved cherry tomatoes, preferably in mixed colors (2 pounds)

Pinch of crushed red pepper

Fresh basil leaves, for garnish

For the spice mix

1/2 teaspoon black peppercorns

1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds

1/4 cup kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

For the Vinaigrette

1 small red onion, finely diced

3 garlic cloves, grated or smashed to a paste

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation:

1. Cook the beans: Rinse beans and put them in a soup pot or Dutch oven. Affix a bay leaf to each onion half with a clove and add to pot. Add the garlic. Add cold water to cover beans by 2 inches. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to a slow simmer. Cook very gently until beans are tender, about 1 hour and up to 2 1/2. Add 2 teaspoons salt and stir to disperse. Cool beans in their broth. Taste broth and adjust seasoning as necessary. Leftover broth can be saved for soup. (Cook the beans a day, or at least several hours, in advance. If using cooked beans, skip Step 1.)

2. Heat the broiler. As the beans cook, cut peppers in half lengthwise and remove seeds. Place on a baking sheet skin side up. Broil until skins blacken and blister, 5 to 6 minutes. Cool to room temperature, then slip off the skins, using a paring knife if necessary. Use paper towels to wipe off any remaining charred bits, but a little char is nice. Do not rinse or they’ll be waterlogged. Cut into 1/2-inch strips.

3. Prepare the spice mix: In a spice grinder, grind peppercorns, coriander, cumin and fennel. Mix the spices with the salt and cayenne. You should have a little more than 1/4 cup.

4. Use 2 tablespoons spice mix to season the tuna steaks on both sides. (Save the remaining spice mix for another use.)

5. Make the vinaigrette: Put diced red onion, garlic and mustard in a small bowl. Add vinegar and stir to incorporate. Let sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then stir in the olive oil.

6. Drain beans and put them in a wide, shallow bowl. Season with salt if necessary. Add half the vinaigrette, toss gently and let marinate for 20 to 30 minutes.

7. Heat a cast-iron or other heavy skillet over medium-high. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil and swirl to coat. Lay the tuna steaks in the skillet and cook until lightly browned on one side, about 2 minutes. Turn and cook the other side until tuna is rare, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and let cool to room temperature.

8. Put roasted peppers and cherry tomatoes in a bowl. Season with salt and crushed red pepper, then toss with remaining vinaigrette.

9. Cut tuna crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices.

10. Assemble the salad: Give the beans another toss in the bowl and check seasoning. Spoon pepper-cherry tomato mixture over the beans.

11. Top with tuna slices arranged artfully around the bowl. Garnish with basil leaves and serve.

Recipe: Cucumber-Apple Cooler

Though this refreshing cucumber concoction may be served as a cold soup in a bowl, it’s best served in a chilled glass as a drink. It gains its zippy flavor from fresh grated ginger and a speck of cayenne. A splash of soda water makes a fine addition. Of course, for those so inclined, it could also benefit from a jigger of gin, for a brilliant green alcoholic cocktail.

By David Tanis

Total time: 15 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

2 or 3 English cucumbers

2 Granny Smith apples, skin-on, cut in large chunks

2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger

Sugar

1 1/2 cups ice water

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (from 2 limes)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Speck of cayenne

Ice cubes

Cucumber slice, lime wedge or red radish slice, for serving (optional)

Sparkling water, to taste, for serving (optional)Preparation:

1. Peel cucumbers lightly, keeping some of the green peel, then cut cucumbers into 1/2-inch chunks. You’ll need about 4 cups.

2. Blend the cucumbers, apples, ginger and 1 teaspoon sugar in a blender with the ice water until smooth, working in batches, if necessary. To all, add lime juice, salt, pepper and cayenne, and blend again briefly.

3. Taste and adjust seasoning. Pass through a fine-mesh strainer, discarding the pulp.

4. Dip the rims of six glasses in salt and sugar, as you prefer, and add a few ice cubes to each. Pour mixture over ice and garnish with a cucumber slice, lime wedge or radish slice, if desired. Top up with sparkling water or serve as is.

Recipe: Lemon Ricotta Cake

This easy lemony cake is topped with apricot preserves, which gives an especially sunny presentation. It’s great with sliced fresh peaches, nectarines or berries alongside. The cake is moist and keeps well, so it can be made a day or two in advance of serving.

By David Tanis

Total time: 1 hour, 10 minutes, plus cooling time

Yield: 10 to 12 servings

Ingredients:

12 tablespoons/170 grams salted butter, cubed, softened, plus more for greasing the pan

1 cup/200 grams plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided

1 pound/454 grams whole-milk ricotta, drained

4 large eggs

1 teaspoon almond extract

Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons (about 1/4 cup juice and 1 tablespoon zest)

1 1/2 cups/192 grams all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Apricot jam, for topping

Preparation:

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch springform pan. Sprinkle the interior of the pan with 2 tablespoons sugar.

2. In a stand mixer (or large mixing bowl, using a hand mixer), cream butter and sugar on high speed until pale. Add ricotta and beat until mixture is fluffy, scraping down sides with a spatula as necessary.

3. Whisk in the eggs, almond extract, lemon zest and juice, and beat until fluffy at high speed, 5 minutes. (Don’t worry if the mixture separates.)

4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add dry mixture to the wet mixture and beat at low speed until incorporated.

5. Transfer mixture to springform and bake until an inserted toothpick emerges clean and dry, 45 minutes.

6. Cool on a wire rack, then remove from pan and transfer to a serving plate.

7. Warm apricot jam in a small pan (thin with a little water if necessary.) Use a brush or spatula to spread jam in a thin layer over the surface of the cake.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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