Tuna and Spinach Sandwich with Olive-Lemon Mayonaisse

Watching Giada on Food Network several weeks ago, we spied this tuna sandwich that she was making with some kind of olive-mayo dressing and tuna that's been packed in oil. Not a traditional tuna salad, mind, but tuna chunks with a layer of mayo above and a bed of greens below.

Since we like a good sandwich (and since I like pretty much any sandwich), I made a version of this for lunch. It came together really easily, and it tasted great.

We started with a small ciabatta, which we split into enough pieces for four pieces of sandwich. I can't remember exactly what kind of tuna we used, but we did get it packed in oil. I drained it in our colander but didn't rinse. The oil added some really good flavor. For the greens, we used baby spinach.

To start the dressing, I pitted about fifteen black olives and dropped them into the food processor. Then, I added the juice of 1/2 a lemon and some salt and pepper. I processed until smooth. Then I mixed in a spoonful of store-bought mayonnaise (unfortunately, it wasn't until after I made this sandwich that I decided to try making my own mayo from scratch; remarkably simple, there'll be a post about it soon). The result is a bright lavender-colored dressing that really brightens the sandwich.

For easy transport, and to keep the bread fresh, I wrapped the sandwiches in parchment first. This kept them from getting too dry and crispy.

I ate mine at home and added a crisp apple and some rice pudding to balance it out.