As The Color Purple Tour makes its way around North America, each city will be asked to submit their favorite recipes for inclusion in THE FOOD WE LOVE: The Color Purple Cookbook!

CHICAGO

Theme: A Family Reunion Fourth of July Picnic.

WINNING RECIPES!

Grand Prize Winning Recipe: GRANDMA SALLY’S TUNA FISH SALAD
Submitted by: Carissa Gillespie

Ingredients:

2 cans albacore tuna (in water)

6 hard boiled eggs (cooled and chopped)

1 small red onion (chopped finely)

2 tbsp sweet pickle relish

1 tbsp mustard

½ cup mayonnaise (more or less depending on texture you like)

Pinch of salt

Pinch of black pepper

Dash of sugar (if you like it sweet)

To prepare:

Drain tuna into a bowl. Using a fork break tuna into small pieces. Fold in remainder of ingredients until all are combined. Chill before serving.

History: Nothing in my childhood was better than spending a hot summer day on Chicago’s South side with my Grandmother Sally and my menagerie of cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. At times it would be too hot to cook and money was tight, so my Grandmother would whip up some Tuna Fish Salad for a bunch. As a child we loved this dish and my grandmother loved preparing it for us. Her Tuna Salad has so much versatility to it. She would serve it on toasted bread with tomatoes and lettuce for a day at the beach (63rd and Hayes was always a choice spot). If we were spending a night with her it was a quick supper served to us kids on buttery Ritz crackers (still my favorite). For adult dinner she would scoop out tomatoes and add elbow macaroni to the tuna and create elegant meals. And no family reunion or gathering was complete without her deviled eggs with tuna salad in the mixture. Even today when I pack to spend a day at the beach or park, Grandma Sally’s Tuna Fish Salad is always on my picnic menu.

Click here to print this recipe.

RUNNERS UP

DAVID’S CREAM CHEESE POUND CAKE

Submitted by: David Gerard Holsen

(View Recipe)

RED RICE

Submitted by: Peggy Zabicki

(View Recipe)

AKARA OR AFRICAN BEAN BALLS

Submitted by: Jewel Bingham

(View Recipe)

GLAZED PORK CHOPS

Submitted by: Margaret Skaritka

(View Recipe)