Tuna Buna Casserole

or is it tunabuna? tuna boona? tune-a-boona?

This is very similar to my mom's - at least how I remember it. And I think the 'buna' thing began with her. Oh - and it's not really a casserole, but it is one-pot cooking and easy.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon cooking oil (vegetable, canola, olive)
1 large celery stalk, sliced 1/4 inch
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 clove crushed garlic
2 cans of tuna (I prefer solid white albacore), drained
splash of cooking sherry or dry white wine

1 can of condensed cream of mushroom soup (wt. 10-3/4 oz.)
2/3 cup (or more) nonfat milk - see instructions below for more information
1/2 cup or more frozen peas

cheese - see notes below for more information
salt and pepper to taste
dash of cayenne (optional)

In deep skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Saute celery and onion until onion is translucent. Add garlic and tuna to the pan and stir for 1 minute. (Optional: de-glaze pan with splash of cooking sherry/wine.)

Add can of mushroom soup to the pan. Fill the empty can about 2/3 full with the nonfat milk; stir to blend in bits of soup remaining in the can. Add to the skillet. Gently stir the vegetable, tuna, soup, and milk mixture until sauce is smooth; add peas and stir.

When mixture is hot and steamy, but not bubbly, reduce heat to low and add cheese, salt, pepper and cayenne. Once cheese has melted, stir to blend. If sauce is too thick, add a little more milk.

Serve over rice, noodles, or pasta.

Notes about the cheese

This is your chance to use up some cheese remnants - parmesan, swiss, cheddar, pepper-jack - in any form - grated, sliced or shredded. Use the equivalent of 1/4 to 1/2 cup of cheese, loosely packed.

Tips

The ingredients are very flexible. Increase or decrease quantities at will. Try adding other vegetables such as fresh mushrooms or - well, actually, there's not much else I would add except for mushrooms.