White Bean Tuna Salad

Most of the more recent recipes I've been trying out have been from my Taste of Home's Light & Tasty Annual Recipes 2005 cookbook. I can say I've been pleased with the majority and will continue to test new ones. The following recipe is one that I'm still on the fence about.

It's good, but I think the red wine vinegar is overwhelming. It has a strong flavor to me, similar to balsamic vinegar, and it easily takes over the dish. All in all I like the flavor combo as well as the textures, but next time I'll add less of the red wine vinegar. I halved the recipe as I wasn't sure how we'd like it, plus we had other meals going on, so I didn't want too much leftover in the fridge. Turns out I made it prior to leaving for Gettysburg on Saturday and haven't even eaten any for a meal yet. What follows is the full recipe, not the halved version I used.

White Bean Tuna Salad
Taste of Home's Light & Tasty Annual Recipes 005
Kathleen Law, Post Falls, ID

1/4 c. red wine vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced [I used jarred & it worked fine]
2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 can [15 oz. each] white kidney or cannellini beans, rinsed & drained
2 cans [6 oz. each] light water-packed tuna, drained & flaked
3/4 c. sliced ripe olives
1/2 c. chopped red onion [I used white because it's what I had on hand and it worked just fine]

In a small bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients; gradually whisk in oil. In a large bowl, combine the beans, tuna, olives and onion; add dressing and toss gently. Refrigerate until serving. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Analysis: 1 serving [3/4 c.] equals 247 calories, 7 g fat [1 saturated fat], 17 mg cholesterol, 754 mg sodium, 23 g carbohydrate, 6 g fiber, 20 g protein.
Diabetic exchange: 3 lean meat, 1 starch, 1 vegetable.

Obviously I don't normally have all of the nutritional info that comes with recipes or things I happen to make up, but since it's listed in the cookbook, I thought I'd share in case anyone is interested.

I'm thinking this might be my dinner tonight. Buppy and I were both kind of stumped as to how to eat this as it's not really 'salad-y' enough to eat on it's own [in our opinions], so I might pile it on top of some romaine and add some tomatoes. The dressing in this recipe can then act as the dressing for the entire salad. Buppy said he was going to try to eat it with Triscuits, so I guess it'd be more like a dip for him. I'll have to ask how that works out for him. If anyone tries it and finds a new way to eat this, feel free to let me know. Enjoy!