well, i was going to make gazpacho, but instead of going to the grocery store over my lunch hour, i bought some new clothes.  so i had to go with something much cheaper.

tuna cakes and salad.

this is a recipe i stole from the gym yesterday.  the magazine had so many great recipes that i took the mag home with me, copied several recipes, and will promptly return it tomorrow when i go back.

that’s legal, right?

anyway, this recipe is actually grilled romaine.  i don’t have an indoor grill pan, and my oranges had almost no juice in them, but were huge.  all this to say ~ i tweaked the recipe a bit.

and this is what i came up with…

1 head of romaine ~ just wash and dry the romaine with its large leaves intact.  and serve like that.  it’s so pretty, isn’t it?  and men like having to use a steak knife on their salad.  makes it seems more substantial.  

some blue cheese

something crunchy:  walnuts or pecans?  i used ramen noodles ~ a nod to the old school ramen noodle salad, and cheap.  and delicious!!  

half of a red onion, sliced and caramelized in a pan with some balsamic vinegar, salt and honey

2 oranges ~ one for squeezing the juice out, and one to serve in segments on the salad.  if your oranges aren’t dry like mine were.  

okay, so here’s how to make the dressing:

juice from one orange, olive oil, red wine vinegar (i used balsamic, but i’m going to try red wine vinegar tomorrow.  i think it would compliment the orange juice more), honey, salt and pepper.  and i always add a squirt of dijon mustard.  it’s a must.

so the caramelized onion really gave the depth of flavor that grilling the lettuce would have.  i’m sure it’s really delicious if you grill it, and i’ll definitely try it when i get a grill pan.  

with it, i made tuna cakes.  love love love.  mashed up garbanzo beans and tuna with some cheese.  corn meal crust.  lots of hot sauce.  fried in coconut oil.  so delicious.

i think i’ve already posted my recipe for tuna cakes.  i think they’re the best things ever.  the hub thinks so too, thank god.  you can feed two people with one can of garbanzos and one can of tuna, and we have a bunch left over for lunch today.  that’s amazing!