I thought I knew how to eat healthy - lots of salads, all the Whole Foods oeuvre - but now that I'm into heavy triathlon training mode I've had to re-learn, because I need more protein and carbs, and just more food in general. So I just made this recipe tonight, from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, and it turned out to be a simple, tasty one-dish meal that also makes a perfect training recipe (probably not what Marcella had in mind). I used whole-wheat spaghetti, which went well with this robust sauce; I used fresh marjoram instead of parsley, because that's what I had; and although I did use the italian canned tuna in olive oil, to be honest I didn't see a big enough difference to make it worth $4 a can. You should use dark meat, in any case, not white albacore. Also, I increased the amount of tomatoes in relation to the tuna, so as not to throw out half a can, and I thought it turned out well.

Tuna Sauce with Tomatoes and Garlic
serves 4-6

4 tbs EVOO
1/2 tsp garlic, chopped very fine (I used minced garlic from a jar)
1.5 cups canned imported Italian plum tomates, cut up, with their juice
12 oz. imported Italian tuna in olive oil
salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 tbs butter (not strictly necessary, IMHO)
1 to 1.5 lbs pasta (Marcella recommends spaghetti or penne)
3 tbs chopped parsley

1. In a saucepan or small saute pan, put the olive oil and garlic, turn the heat to medium, and cook the garlic to pale gold. Add the cut-up tomatoes and juice, stir to coat the tomatoes well, and reduce heat to a gentle but steady simmer. Simmer for about 25 minutes, until the oil floats free from the tomatoes.
-Marcella notes that you could prepare the sauce up to this point and then store it up to two days before finishing it.
2. Drain and crumble the tuna. Turn off the heat under the sauce, add the tuna and mix thoroughly. Add pepper and salt to taste, and the butter, and mix well again.
3. Toss with pasta. Add the chopped parsley, toss again, and serve.

Y'all, it was delicious.