One Great . . . tuna white bean salad

We all have our weird hobbies, but I'll admit one of mine is especially strange: I collect tuna fish. Not the floppy fish themselves. No, I collect kinds of canned tuna.

While I do make a point of buying wild-caught, environmentally friendly albacore tunas, like Wild Planet or American Tuna, I'm also partial to Italian brands. I keep an eye out whenever I'm an Italian market or gourmet supermarket, particularly in New York. Tucking a can or two of good tuna in my luggage is a lot easier (and cheaper) than shopping for shoes or pottery.

One reason I do that is that I'm a fan of oil-packed tunas. While I understand some people prefer the lower-fat water-packed tunas, I have found that water-packed tuna just makes me load in more mayonnaise to keep it from being too dry. Instead, I lean toward dishes where the tuna is just one ingredient among many, like the French salad nicoise, a mix of green beans and potatoes topped with flaked tuna. I'd rather use a little good tuna than a lot of dry, tasteless tuna.

 On a recent hot night, I got a craving for an Italian-style salad featuring tuna and white beans. I adapted several recipes and came up with this.

Tuna and Cannellini Bean Salad

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (19-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup chicken broth
4 or 5 long sprigs of fresh thyme, plus 2 teaspoons minced leaves, divided
1 jar or can of oil-packed tuna (see note)
1 whole lemon

1 cucumber, peeled, halved and thinly sliced

2 tablespoons minced onion (preferably red onion, although yellow or even a green onion would be good too)

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Fresh lettuce leaves

WARM the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and add the garlic. Cook briefly, until just fragrant. Add the drained beans, the chicken broth and the sprigs of thyme. Cook gently about 10 minutes, letting the beans absorb the flavors. 

IN A SERVING BOWL, whisk the oil from the tuna with the grated zest and juice of the lemon. Remove the beans from the saucepan with a slotted spoon and stir into the dressing. Let stand a few minutes, until room temperature. Stir in the tuna, breaking into chunks, along with the cucumber and onion. 

SEASON to taste with salt and pepper and serve on lettuce leaves.  

NOTE: I used a 7-ounce jar of Tonnino tuna fillets, but you also could use a 5- to 7-ounce can of another oil-packed Italian brand, such as Cento or Ortiz, or an American wild-caught brand, such as Wild Planet or American Wild. 

YIELD: 4 servings.