Boost the Nutrients {and have larger portions}… or, Pimp Your Tuna

108 Comments / Food, Superfood / By

When I was younger, I wasn’t a fan of foods like tuna sandwiches or egg salad. I was repulsed by the combination of smooth and crunchy textures. Nuts in cookies? Gag me. (Actually, I still don’t really prefer that combination). Macaroni salad with crunchy onions or celery? …It made me crazy (I was also more dramatic when I was younger).

My most recent technique in the kitchen is to pimp out my heavier foods with lighter foods (I get to eat more without stuffing myself silly). It sounds pretty obvious and once you do it, it becomes an essential way to prep food and make it more delicious too!
Note: I no longer avoid smooth and crunchy (or smooth and lumpy—I also used to gag when I accidentally ate yogurt that had chunks of fruit in it).

Truth: In my house, I didn’t come up with this. Joe did. He’s just smart like that.
Pimp Your Tuna (or use chickpeas instead)

Dice: onion, celery, spinach, sprouts (make these super tiny), tomatoes (remove seeds).
The chopped add-ins!

 

Mix with canned tuna (my preference is the wild caught, packed in spring water, BPA-free can).

Add: dill weed and black pepper.
Add: Vegenaise and mix with a fork.

Optional: Add diced hot peppers (Joe does this. I usually forget).

I’m not providing measurements because I never measure these ingredients. You’ll know when it’s right, and it seems like everyone has their own preference about mayo saturation (Joe and I keep it a little on the dry side).
The end product looks like this:

 

There's something in my brain that makes me think I'm eating an entire bowl full of tuna...when I'm really eating about one-third tuna and two-thirds add-ins.

 

Here's a batch Joe made---neither of us measure anything, but it always turns out essentially the same.

Or, if you add turmeric and curry powder (like I did on Thursday), it looks more like this:

 

Same recipe as above, with slightly more vegenaise, and a dash of turmeric and curry. Served with brown rice seaweed crackers and Mary’s Gone Crackers (Black Pepper flavor). I had approximately 20 taste testers for this—two thumbs up from everyone (even the guy who is “not too big on tuna”).

So….tuna is pretty ugly. But it can be delicious in moderation (if you’re into the seafood thang).

 

Let me show you a teaser from today’s spin-off on the Pimp Your Tuna concept…

 

Hint #1: Umami. You will not guess the secret ingredient in this (well, Gina from Candid RD might!). This was so good it deserves its own post 🙂

Do you have any tips for tricking yourself into thinking you’re eating larger portions than you really are?

Any guesses about the secret ingredient above (yes, that’s avocado…spinach, tomato, onion, lemon juice….and?)?

Today was a great day for me—I hope it was for you too!

108 thoughts on “Boost the Nutrients {and have larger portions}… or, Pimp Your Tuna”

  1. Laury@thefitnessdish

    I totally pimp my tuna with celery, sprouts, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, veganaise, etc. I am TOTALLY opposite of you. I LOVE nut in my cookies, I LOVE crunchy with smooth. I actually prefer that and can’t eat most things unless they have the crunch. Love yogurts, I always have to add a crunch or fresh berries to it!

  2. Jenny Houlahan

    mm mmm mmmm! It’s been so long since I’ve tuna, salmon, or egg salad and I miss them. Since we’re moving this week (and therefore not shopping) I will see if I can make this with the block of tofu I have in the fridge. 

    I love your add ins. I’m so interested that you overcome your intolerance to textures. Did it happen gradually?

    My fav mixin to egg and fish salads is sweet pickle relish. Soo sweet and salty at the same time 🙂

  4. Katelyn @ Chef Katelyn

    AHHHHH best avocado salad in the worlddddd! Also I cannot wait to try that tuner salad at my party! You should do a whole post on your homemade Zevia 😉

  5. lauren@spicedplate

    this looks lovely!  I put pureed veggies in stirfries sometimes, and it makes me feel fuller. 

  6. Anonymous

    glad you enjoyed a great day yesterday, lisa – and on a monday, too! bonus!
    i so hear you on textures – i am also not a fan of nuts in cookies (or bread, cake, ice cream) or celery in tuna salad…and that goes back to childhood, too. i’m more of a “keep the textures/flavours separate” kind of girl.
    i like that joe gives you good ideas for recipes! i have no idea about the secret ingredient!
    we’ve had sunshine for days on end – and it’s looking that way again for today…aahhhh!

  8. Pure2raw Twins

    “I wasn’t a fan of foods like tuna sandwiches or egg salad. I was repulsed by the combination of smooth and crunchy textures.” —- that was me too!! Still from  time to time have an issue with real creamy things like tuna salads, etc… but desserts that is no problem haha

  9. Lisa

    I haven’t made tuna salad in so long! I have to make this sometime this week or the next. 🙂

    I’ve actually been the least pickiest eater since I was little. I never gave my parents a hard time and ate whatever they cooked and I enjoyed everything.

    I have NO idea what the secret ingredient is!

  10. Peggy Labor

    It’s been a while since I’ve made any sort of tuna salad – and these versions definitely blow mine out of the water!  Will try it your way next time =)

  11. Kathleen

    This is great advice for stretching a 6 oz can of tuna into two portions AND adding more healthful foods!

    My bugaboo: fruit in savory dishes. Pineapple has no place in curry!  

  12. DiningAndDishing

    Love it! I’m all about pimping most any dish I make :). Adding veggies and other mix-ins makes eating more tasty/fun and provides lots of nutrients I wouldn’t normally get without the variety!

  13. Sarena (The Non-Dairy Queen)

    My boys have texture issues, but I love texture and always have to my foods. This looks so good! I always add this type of thing to a huge pile of fresh spinach or lettuce. It’s a great way to trick you into thinking your eating more than you think and you get extra goodness in it!

  14. Faith

    Mmm, now that looks like a killer tuna salad!  Love the idea of adding curry and turmeric for a little Indian flair!

  15. lindsay cotter

    oh I’ll have to tryr some of these. I always add nutritional yeast and balsamic vinegar to mine. Is that the secret ingredient? Nutritional yeast? or maybe egg yolk?

  16. Anonymous

    Braggs? oooor tempeh? ooor… hmmm… It LOOKS like my mexi tuna with extra avo! =) yum!

    the curry tuna is genius! Totally dreaming of that now <3

    xoXOxoJenn @ Peas & Crayons

  18. Stephanie

    That looks like the salmon salad that my dad used to make us growing up!  (He’s a bit of a canned fish snob.  He always made salmon, NEVER tuna.  Not sure why!)  I don’t eat fish anymore, but I still love the taste of “salmon” salad.  I make it with pulsed soaked sunflower seeds, lemon juice and all the fixins.  So good!

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  22. Laura

    If I wanted to trick myself with a dish like this, I’d probably place it atop a huge bed of spinach or romaine… so Veganaise… it’s one of those things I walk by every time I go to the store but have never bought. I’m so afraid it’s going to be gross… should I take the plunge? Is there a certain kind that’s best for a first-timer?

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