It is a weekly ritual Neilbert and I keep that I cook him dinner every Sunday and we watch an episode of Star Trek. After getting through all seven seasons of TNG, we have moved on to Voyager, at Neilbert’s request (he was never a big DS9 fan).

Since we do this routine every Sunday, it seemed like I should do a little something different for Father’s Day, and so I asked Neilbert ahead of time which of my recipes are his favorite so that I could make an all request meal. After a bit of brainstorming, Neilbert requested spanish rice, and after further brainstorming I suggested tuna patties… and he didn’t refuse.

I first made spanish rice from scratch for Neilbert several months ago. Being on a salt-restricted diet, Neilbert stays away from basically anything in the boxed-mix aisle. Hamburger Helper, Kraft Deluxe Mac, Rice-a-Roni… it’s all chock full of salt. In fact, almost anything with a spice mix (including actual spice mixes in the spice aisle) is chock full of salt. Luckily, with just a little Googling, you can pretty much make your own spice mixes for anything sans salt.

SARAH’S SPANISH RICE

Brown meat in your skillet. Add to the saucepan when cooked. Simmer all ingredients in the saucepan until rice is tender. Add tomato paste. Heat through, serve hot.

If you don’t have all these spices in your arsenal, you can use a tablespoon or two of chili powder. The reason I don’t use it is because most chili powder has, you guessed it, salt. Chili powder, as sold in most grocery stores in the vicinity of the McCormick spice rack is not, in fact, powdered chilies, but rather a fairly standardized spice mix. It’s “chili” as in “five alarm chili” not “chili” as in “hot Thai chili.” Of course, at some Asian groceries and in some Asian cookbooks, chili powder does hold the “hot Thai” connotation (or Kashmiri, Reshampti, etc.), but that’s a chili topic for another day.

The second recipe I made was for tuna cakes, a standard in my repertoire for many years. I have done derivations on this recipe for years, including variations with salmon and crab, with various types of cheeses, but the original tuna and cheddar version is a great way to enjoy seafood cakes without the expense of crab. On Father’s Day I made the old standard recipe, and it always yields great results.

SARAH’S TUNA CAKES WITH DIJON SAUCE

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl until well combined. The mix can be made ahead and refrigerated for a few hours. To prepare the topping, mix together equal parts mayo and mustard. Chill until serving. Prior to cooking, form the tuna mixture into patties and arrange on a nonstick tray. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake until cakes get a bit of a golden crust on top, about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve the cakes hot with the mustard dressing on the side.

For both the tuna cakes and the spanish rice, you can make your life a lot easier by getting diced frozen onions and diced frozen green peppers. Most grocery stores have them in the frozen section and they’ll help cut preparation time dramatically. I always keep frozen onions around because my eyes are very sensitive and they water easily at the vapors released by cutting an onion. Also, for either recipe, ground hot pepper can be added, to taste, for those with spicy tastes.