Tuna-Kimchi Melt with Tomato and Avocado
A Tangy California Twist on a Retro Favorite
Hello, March! It’s been so warm this past week that it has really felt like spring is arriving. I’m sure it won’t last—we’ll get a cold spell soon to knock the blossoms off the trees—but it’s a nice reprieve for a minute. Now we just have to hope the coming storm headed to the mountains this weekend leaves lots of snow for the coming year.
With my book release coming up—details below—I’ve been keeping my cooking pretty simple most nights, and one evening I was reminded of a favorite diner-style dish that I hadn’t yet introduced my daughter to: tuna melts. I don’t know why this dish hasn’t been in our regular rotation. It’s made up entirely of foods she loves, namely tuna salad and cheddar cheese. When I proposed making it, she asked if we could buy sourdough, which is exactly the right response. (She’s got pretty great food sense for a tween.) I decided that I wanted to add a few fresh, bright notes to top off the very protein-heavy meal, so I also got some cherry tomatoes and avocado.
For my version (and my husband’s) I also added another twist: I mixed the tuna with lots of kimchi. This idea was pulled from my upcoming book, Snacking Dinners, which features a fun kimchi melt—just the kimchi (with mayo and some great flavorings), the bread, and the cheese, plus a fun add-in that gives the dish great crunch (no spoilers here).
For the kimchi melt recipe and other quick-and-easy (and delicious!) meals, pre-order a copy of my upcoming book SNACKING DINNERS, coming out April 8th! As a bonus, you can sign up for added drink-pairing recipes, a signed bookplate, and a chance to win a fun prize drawing. (Pre-orders are a huge boost for sales rankings and encourage indie bookstores to stock the book.)
The result of this weeknight experiment was absolutely delicious, so I thought I’d share it with all of you. This is more of a method than a straightforward recipe, because you should add as much of each ingredient as suits your palate (and I don’t really measure my ingredients when I make tuna salad or grate cheese). So, play around with the instructions below until your tuna-kimchi salad tastes perfect to you.
Tuna-Kimchi Melt with Tomato and Avocado
Make tuna salad with whatever ingredients you usually use. I like adding celery for crunch and I usually add some pickle, too, but I left that out since I knew I was adding kimchi to this mix. Add a little extra mayo—you’ll see why in a second.
Roughly chop some cabbage kimchi and mix it into the tuna. Use whatever ratio you like: I really like an almost 50:50 balance of tuna to kimchi, to add a lot of tangy goodness, but start with just a bit and then add more until you have something that tastes right to you. Add more mayo as needed to hold everything together, then stir in just a drop or two of toasted sesame oil.
Toast sourdough bread (or whatever kind you prefer) and grate some medium-strength cheddar cheese. Slice some cherry tomatoes, avocado, and scallions (optional).
Pile some of the tuna-kimchi salad onto each piece of toast, set it on a baking tray (or the tray that fits into your toaster oven, if you have one), and add a nice pile of cheese on top. Sprinkle on some of the tomato; this can cook with the cheese.
Cook the melt in a toaster oven or broiler until the tuna is warmed and the cheese is nicely melted. Carefully transfer the toasts to plates and top each one with the avocado, the scallion (if using), and some sesame seeds (if you like).
Other California Recipes to Try
Last week’s recipe from my Snacking Dinners newsletter felt very California—we just love to put anything we can into a tortilla—so I thought you all might enjoy it:
The other California Substack recipe that I’m obsessed with this week is Kristina Cho’s passion fruit egg tarts. Click through to see the photo, and you’ll want to make them, too:
Photos: Georgia Freedman
Okay same! My daughter also loves tuna and cheese, and yet I've never made her a tuna melt! Definitely going to!
I bet this would be REALLY good with tinned mackerel too!