Roasted Vegetable and Tuna Salad with Garlic Croutons

 This salad is full of Mediterranean flavours and great for using up any tomatoes and peppers that you may have lurking around in your fridge.  I always make the croutons with day-old french stick so they go really crunchy, they go so well with the soft roasted veg.
The roasted veg can be done ahead of time and kept in the fridge until needed then warmed through in a pan before stirring in the tuna.

Serves 4

Ingredients

3 medium Red Onions, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 Yellow Pepper, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 Red Pepper, cubed

3 Courgettes, cubed

6-8 Tomatoes, quartered and deseeded 

(I also skin them by covering them in boiling water for a minute but you don't need to)

1 Clove of Garlic, minced

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

185g Tin of Tuna Steak in Sunflower Oil, drained

1 Bag of Baby Salad Leaves

For the Croutons

About half a French Stick, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 Cloves of Garlic, minced

More Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

For the Dressing

1 tspn Dijon Mustard

1 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar

4-5 tbsp Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

• Preheat the oven to 200C (fan).
• Put all the chopped vegetables including the garlic into a large roasting tin.  Drizzle with a few glugs of olive oil and season with salt and pepper then toss it all together.  Roast in the preheated oven for about an hour or until soft and slightly colouring at the edges.  Set aside to cool slightly.
• While the veg are roasting, make the croutons.  In another roasting tin, toss the cubes of bread in another few glugs of olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic.  Put it in the oven for about 10 minutes until the croutons are sizzling, golden brown and crunchy.
• Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together.  Put the warm roasted veg into a large bowl and flake in the tuna, stir through.
• Put a handful or two of salad leaves onto each plate and drizzle with dressing.  Divide the tuna and veg between the four plates and surround with the croutons.
• Dig in.