Venezuelan Antipasto

I am dedicating this post to my friend and colleague, Deb. My good friends, Rosemary and Pablo were at the University of Florida about 20 years ago as visiting graduate students on a grant from Venezuela when we first met. Even though their English was at times difficult to understand; we never seemed to have a problem communicating. It only seemed natural that we would exchange recipes as well as helpful advise on child rearing; we had Kathleen and they had two boys. Back then, Scott and I still ate fish and were not fully vegetarians so when Rosemary made this Antipasto for dinner one night we were amazed at the flavors as they seemed to separate and yet meld together. She gave me this recipe and I too have shared it for many years. I don't have any pictures to post of it, but if anyone out there makes it; perhaps you could post a picture for me. I hope you all will enjoy it as much as my family did in the past.

Venezuelan Antipasto

Ingredients

1 medium cauliflower
1 bag baby carrots
6 stalks celery
2 medium onions
2 medium green peppers
1 pound fresh green beans
6 cans Chicken of the Sea solid white tuna in spring water (you can substitute tuna in oil, but it will add calories)
5 green olives stuffed with pimentos

1 cup vinegar (white)
24 oz Ketchup (I like Heinz brand)
1/3 cup olive oil (use only extra virgin grade, not light type—the higher the quality—the better the flavor of the antipasto)
½ cup water (approximately)

Preparation

Separate cauliflower into little flowers, cut carrots into little sticks about twice as thick as a match stick and about 1 inch or so long, cut celery into little rectangles, pepper into little squares bout ½ inch, separate onion into little feather like pieces (i.e. cut in half, then slice each half, then pull the half-rings apart), cut the green beans into 1/3s or 1/4s depending on size. Leave the olives whole. Open and drain the tuna.

Layer the vegetables in a large cooking pot in the following order (starting at the bottom)
Carrots
Green beans
Cauliflower
Celery
Peppers
Onions
Tuna fish (shredded well with a folk)
Olives

Add olive oil, vinegar, ketchup and water. Cook over medium heat for about ½ to ¾ of an hour depending on the tenderness of the vegetables (the vegetables on the bottom will be very tender; but will become crisper once they are chilled in the refrigerator). DO NOT STIR until vegetables are done, then stir up and let cook about 5 more minutes over a LOW heat, to blend the flavors.

Let cool completely before saving in the refrigerator. Save in small containers, so that only part of it is open at a time, and the rest will not spoil.

You can easily cut the recipe in half by using half of everything.

This is a great summer meal.