You never know what life is going to give you, and tonight, the very first night of the New Year, I received something that made my heart leap with joy. I got to cook dinner for 40 people!
When the guest chef did not arrive, I asked if I could cook dinner, and my friend said, “Yes”. First I looked in the pantry, and was amazed to not find any of the things I usually have in my pantry, like onions, or potatoes. There was a lot of pasta, and a lot of spaghetti sauce, frozen turkey sausage, frozen garlic bread, many cans of tuna, two cans of kidney beans, one can of pinto beans, and a can of chopped tomatoes. No problem! The Good Plate to the rescue.
We took the pasta, spaghetti sauce, frozen turkey sausage and frozen garlic bread and put that aside for spaghetti dinner. That left me with the beans, tuna and tomatoes. Clearly, there was nothing green. So I went to the market and bought spring onions, a large bag of broccoli, a bottle of Girard’s Caesar Dressing, Parmesan cheese, and market brand cookies. Remember, we were feeding 40 people, and dessert had to be included.
The pasta, sauce and sausages got cooked, the bread got heated up. I made my salad, and stood and served those 40 people. While we were serving the salad, one of the guests said, “It looks so good, what’s it called?” I said, “Well, this is Ascencia, so I’ll call it Ascencian Salad.” It was good, and people came back for seconds. I was thrilled!
So, without further ado, here is my recipe for Ascencian Salad. Ascend to a good meal!
Recipe: Ascencian Salad
Ingredients
- 2 cans kidney beans
- 1 can pinto beans
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 1 very large bag frozen brocolli
- 1 bunch green onions
- 3 cans good quality tuna in oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 2/3 bottle Girard’s Caesar Salad Dressing
- 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Chop the green onions.
- Drain and rinse the beans, and put them into a very large bowl. Drain the tomatoes and add them to the bowl.
- Sprinkle the Italian seasoning over all.
- Do NOT remove the broccoli from its bag. Put the bag directly into the microwave and cook it on high for 6 minutes, no more, no less.
- When the broccoli is finished, cut the bag open and pour it into the bowl. Stir all to combine.
- Drain the tuna and add it to the bowl. Mix.
- Pour the dressing over all, the sprinkle cheese and pepper.
- Mix well, and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Quick notes
This is a very good salad served with hot, crunchy garlic bread.
Variations
You could put other vegetables you have on hand, carrots, celery, red peppers, what have you. Be creative!
Preparation time: 5 minute(s)
Cooking time: 6 minute(s)
Diet type: Pescatarian
Number of servings (yield): 30
Culinary tradition: Italian
My rating
Copyright © The Good Plate.
Recipe by Adrienne Boswell.
Microformatting by hRecipe.
Thanks for posting that. I wish there were a picture, because it sounds really, really good. I’m going to be having an event soon, for a lot of people, and this recipe really hits the spot.