Tuna Salad

I have always loved tuna salad. When I visited my grandma in the summer as a kid she would make tuna salad for lunch and serve it with Ritz crackers. That meal with a glass of icy Kool-Aid was a great source of energy for a very active pre-teen boy. Now that I am an adult the mayonnaise heavy version with the cheapest canned tuna just doesn’t taste as good to me.

My version has fewer ingredients than grandma’s and is much more nutritious. Safe Catch Elite Tuna is the main ingredient in this recipe. Tuna is the star of the show and this product is excellent. Buying it a can at a time at the local grocery can get expensive quickly though. The tuna is available in 1.2 kg bulk pouches online here. The upfront cost is high but it is shelf stable and the unit cost is on par with the main national canned brands. Do Not drain this tuna when it is opened. The liquid in the bag is the natural oils and water from the fish. I dump the whole pouch into a gallon size Ziploc bag and then seal it up. I use my hands to break up the filets through bag and the liquid is easily reabsorbed as the tuna is mixed in. I take out the amount I need for my recipe then squeeze as much air out of the bag as possible before resealing. The bagged tuna freezes beautifully! I defrost the frozen tuna overnight in my refrigerator when I am ready to use it.

Instead of mayonnaise I use pureed 4% milkfat cottage cheese. I have found it easiest to blend the cottage cheese in the blender cup attachment of my immersion blender. I can’t personally detect much difference in the finished salad but the switch saves 190 calories and 22.3 grams of fat with 3.3 grams more protein per serving.

I finish up the salad mix with finely diced white onion and non-pareil capers. The capers give the salad a really satisfying and distinct briny flavor that I really enjoy! Sometimes I add garlic powder and dried dill depending on my mood.

At this point in my life, I do prefer this recipe compared to my grandma’s version. It tastes more sophisticated and is absolutely more nutritious. Both versions are great though because we both use the best secret ingredient. Grandma always cooked with Love and so do I and I always Eat With Love!