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Monday, April 25, 2011

T is for... Tuna (in a can)

   Tuna salad is almost unanimously popular in our house.  Only my son doesn't like it.  But, he will eat Tuna casserole, so I have not lost hope that he will one day enjoy tuna salad on a sandwich.  Tuna from a can is so handy to have in your pantry!  It can be supper or lunch and it can be quick or it can be the ingredient in a slow baked casserole, or it can be used to make some yummy Tuna burgers (that if you freeze them first) can be done on the barbeque.
   When buying tuna always watch that you are buying the ecologically friendly can on the shelf.  While most of them are now labelled with the "Dolphin" on the side, indicating that no dolphins were put in danger while fishing for this tuna, it is still not always the environmentally friendly one.  When buying seafood, I try and refer to the Oceanwise list.  For canned tuna, if I can find it, I try to buy Raincoast,  which is sometimes available at Fairway market here in town.  Another company selling wild tuna from the US pacific coast is Wild Pacific Seafood
However, this kind of canned tuna is much more expensive than what we normally find on the grocery store shelves.  Oceanwise lists skipjack as a good choice for sustainable tuna, and you have a better chance of buying ocean friendly tuna if you look for either a packed in the US or packed in Canada on the label.  If anyone knows of some more suggestions, please let me know!

A great idea for quick tuna salad (serves 4-5): 2 cans tuna, drained , 2 tbsp mayonnaise (your choice of), 2-4 tbsp of each: celery, chopped fine, green onion chopped fine, sweet pickle chopped fine, 1/4 tsp curry powder, or cumin or a dash of hot pepper sauce (all optional).  Mix all ingredients in medium bowl with a fork, breaking up any large lumps of tuna.  (other additions to the salad: roasted red pepper, dill pickles and dried dill as the seasoning).  Once you have made your tuna salad, the choice is yours: tuna melts area lways a good choice for a quick dinner, with a cup of soup on the side or some salad.  I make roll-ups by spreading plain cream cheese on one side of a whole wheat tortilla, spread the tuna salad over half of the tortilla, add a lettuce leaf and roll.  Slice roll into two or three or four pieces.  It makes a great lunch!

Happy Packing!



4 comments:

  1. Mmm. I'm not crazy about mayonnaise, so I use sour cream with my tuna, which works great. The Bean is a huge fan of tuna sandwiches -- but I get the evil eye from Sweetie about whether the canned fish is sufficiently safe from mercury and bisphenol A. So we limit the tuna intake to once every couple of weeks, and stick to white tuna.

    I was surprised on Good Friday to find no more flaked tuna in the pantry. I've been on a Salade Niçoise kick lately and only had solid tuna. Even the Sweetie is getting hooked on the Niçoise -- such a great combination of flavours.

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  2. Yum, that is one of my favourites...Grown up lunch! On a terasse with a glass of white wine to sip...

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  3. Grown-up, maybe, but the Bean loves it too. When I got up this morning, she was watching "French Food at Home" on the Food Network!

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  4. LOVE tuna from a can LOL I love the solid white albacore tuna. Yummy.

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