Healthy meal of the week: Spicy Tuna Salad
leftover idea: Tuna Cracker Sandwiches
For a healthy meal with a twist, here’s one your family might love, especially when you can create a leftover meal that’s easy to transport and ready to take with you if needed. We hope you enjoy spicy foods because this meal puts a twist on the traditional way of preparing tuna by substituting mustard and tapatío for mayonnaise. Truth be told, the least healthy component of tuna, as it’s typically eaten, is the mayonnaise, which has a whopping 100 calories PER tablespoon. If you can cut it out or use the bare minimum, tuna has the potential to be a great eating option.
So instead of the amount of mayonnaise you usually use to mix with tuna, you can substitute mustard (only 5 calories per serving). When you toss in a few squirts of Tapatío hot sauce (or another preferred brand), you won’t really miss that fattening mayonnaise anyway, as your taste buds will enjoy the heat too much.
Necessary equipment
– medium mixing bowl
– can opener for tuna
Time to cook
– 10 minutes of preparation
Ingredients
(6 servings)
– 4 5 oz. cans of tuna (in water)
– vegetable salad of your choice
– 6 tablespoons of mustard
– seasoned salt and pepper to taste
– Tapatío hot sauce to taste
For the Leftover Tuna Cracker Sandwiches:
– pretzels
– slices of low-fat mozzarella cheese (optional)
Addresses
1. This is a really simple meal to prepare. Start by carefully opening the tuna cans and draining the water completely. You can use a strainer to help with this, or press the lid down on the tin, hold firmly, and flip it over the sink. Most of the water will drain away leaving the precious tuna in the can. Just make sure you hold it tight and watch out for sharp edges so you don’t cut your fingers.
2. Put tuna (minus water) in a bowl large enough to mix well without spilling over the edge.
3. Add the mustard, a few dashes of tapatío, a pinch of seasoned salt and pepper to taste. Mix well with a fork. Show a bit to see what you think. Then you can add more of something if you need to.
Four. Wash and chop the lettuce that you are going to use, and also take the opportunity to cut/add any vegetables that you want to include in your salad. Just remember that you’ll be adding 1-2 tablespoons of tuna afterwards, so keep that in mind.
5. Once your salad is prepared just the way you like it, add 1-2 heaping tablespoons of your spicy tuna concoction. You will find that no salad dressing is needed. As you eat, try to include some tuna with the mixed green salad in each bite and you will have an explosion of flavors in your mouth.
Leftover Food Idea:
Here’s a simple gift that you can easily take to work the next day. Better yet, the total for this meal is only about 250 calories or you can add an extra 100 if you plan on having a piece of fruit with this meal, still 350 calories is great for a meal.
All you need to do is scoop 2-3 heaping tablespoons of spicy tuna into a plastic travel container and seal with a lid. Place your crackers (or equivalent) in a ziploc bag and place both packages in your fridge until needed. You’ll be ready to go in no time!
