A Recipe for Love

It’s Valentine’s Day which has me wondering, is there a recipe for love?

You may have heard of Engagement Chicken or Marry Me Chicken. Both are variations on comfort food classics that, when made for and consumed by the one you have eyes for, immediately cue Cupid’s bow and arrow and ignite feelings of ever-lasting love.

On this romantic holiday where we celebrate love, I’m sharing the “recipe for love” that helped my dad capture my mom’s heart nearly 60 years ago.

It was the mid-60’s and my dad Gerry was a student at Bemidji State University (BSU) in Bemidji, Minn. My mom Carol, who is from Bemidji, was also a student at BSU. Both happened to be at the drive-in movie theater one night with their own friend groups, but managed to catch each other’s eye. Looking back now, they don’t remember what movie was playing but they remember they were smitten and needed to see each other again!

Shortly after that night, my dad invited my mom over to his college house for dinner.  He points out that they didn’t have a lot of money at the time (except for beer and pizza which college kids always seem to prioritize) but he wanted to impress her. He chose to make an economical yet tasty dish that he knew from home—one that his mom had made for him, called “Tuna Delight,” and the rest is history.  This July, Gerry and Carol will celebrate 57 years of marriage!

Tuna Delight is a pretty simple recipe with a short list of ingredients and probably what one may expect a young bachelor or college student to make. However, it’s a dish my parents still enjoy today. My mom adds a little sautéed onion and celery to the tuna mixture and notes, “It can be a bit salty with the potato chips and the recipe doesn’t go far, but it’s still pretty good.” Sounds like a perfect dish for two!

Recipe for Tuna Delight 

Ingredients:

• One can or pouch of tuna, drained
• One can of cream of mushroom soup
• One bag of plain potato chips, crushed
• Optional: chopped and sautéed onion and celery

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
• In a bowl, mix tuna with a can of cream of mushroom soup. (Optional: add onion and celery)
• Crush a bag of potato chips.
• Put half of the potato chips on the bottom of a casserole.
• Add the tuna mixture on top of the chips.
• Top with the remaining chips.
• Bake for 40 minutes.

If Tuna Delight is not your thing, following are some other “recipes for love” to make for your sweetheart. Happy Valentine’s Day!!