Tuna Heroes

In the Buckley house, Tuna Heroes were a Friday night special, especially during Lent, but, in truth, all year round. When I was very young, Mom often went grocery shopping after work on Friday, so there was usually a fresh loaf of bread to use with the heroes. All the other ingredients are fairly standard items that would be around the house.

Mom's Tuna Heroes are an open face melt sandwich. Mom thinks she found the recipe in a magazine. I always thought she had just made the recipe up herself. Whatever the source of the recipe, it is a keeper.

Recently, Mom, Meg, and Tim came over for Tuna Heroes with MDS and me. It was just like the old days. Meg and I (well, really, Meg) made the tuna heroes. When I was in high school that Meg and I would make the tuna heroes and time them to be done just after Mom got home from work. The Tuna Heroes tasted just as I remembered. A good time was had by all.

But, even better than Friday night Tuna Heroes is Tuna Heroes for breakfast on Saturday morning.  MDS is horrified, but in the Buckley family house, there was always something of a race to get the Tuna Heroes for Saturday morning breakfast. I cannot explain why leftovers for breakfast was so popular in the house, but that is the way that it was.

The recipe is simple. As with so many of Mom's recipes, there are no formal measurements, but Meg and I will try to estimate the measurements.  The ingredients are simple and can be modified for your preferred taste. One note, Mom always used imitation swiss cheese on these tuna heroes. Sure, you could use real swiss cheese, or any other cheese for that matter. But for me, I will always use imitation swiss cheese.

Tuna Heroes
2 or 3 cans tuna
1 cup sour cream
1 cup mayonnaise
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon garlic salt
1 Tablespoon dried parsley
1 loaf french bread
spread butter or margarine
12 slices imitation swiss cheese

Heat the oven to 375. Drain the tuna and place into a large bowl. Add the sour cream, mayo, lemon juice, garlic salt, and dried parsley.  Mix well.

Slice the french bread the long way.  Place the bread, face up, on a baking sheet.  Spread each bread face with butter or margarine.  Then, evenly spread the tuna mixture onto the bread.  Cover with cheese.

Place the baking sheet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is slightly browned. If you prefer the cheese to be darker, turn on the broiler to brown the cheese.

Allow the Tuna Heroes to cool. Slice the Tuna Heroes and serve.