Mediterranean Tuna Salad { HEALTHIER VERSION }

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِيم

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

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Upon a time a time ago, when I lived in the land of Whole Foods and Trader Joe's I often used to stop by the salad bar after work for some quick fixin's for dinner. One of my favorite things they offered was Clam Chowder (both New England and Manhattan versions) and all the yummy prepared salads they offer. It’s been well documented (also here) that Whole Foods is expensive  so I'm actually glad I no longer live in the land of $40 ostrich eggs, $8 hemp milk and $10 pomegranate juice. Don't get me wrong Whole Foods is great place for finding organic food and interesting healthy interesting ingredients - and no shock it's considered THE healthiest place to shop in 38 states (US) and also Canada and the UK. But moving to Algeria, I realized how much of "health food snob" I was and it how ridiculous paying $20 at the salad was! Yup, NAMASTE!

Moving to Algeria has also opened my eyes to all sorts of things. Like the fact, you don't need to pay gazillion dollars for quality organic food; and the fact that I don't need to attach myself to the lastest "health food fad" just in the hopes of finding health, body and emotional bliss. And finally the healthest of foods is one we grow and make ourselves.

I think globally, we have a problem with eating. The more developed countries we have developed “orthorexia nervosa,” a term which literally means “fixation on righteous eating.” While in the more poor countries, we are seeing how the obesity rates are creeping soaring at alarming rates. When did we forget the wisdom of our ancestors? When did we stop eating a traditional diet based on simple, in season ingredients? What exactly do I mean when I say “traditional foods?” Traditional foods are those foods which nourished our ancestors throughout history and prehistory prior to the advent of the industrialization of food. The industrialization of food largely began in the 19th century and entrenched itself in standard diets of the 20th and 21st centuries. Deeply nourishing, traditional foods as our ancestors knew them were unprocessed, naturally raised, largely raw and decidedly unrefined. These foods represent the natural diet of humankind and, as such, nourished the natural growth and evolution of the human species for thousands of years prior to the industrialization of food.

Consider what your hertiage is; what your grandparents, great-grandparents ate. Did they have a diet of cooked meat stews, fermeneted vegetables and dairy. Or did they have a diet of corn, beans, fish and tubers like jicama? Or prehaps rice, millet, fish and beans. Going back to our old way of eating whole foods, putting together with ingredients which grew instead of being manufactured or altered to a point where the original plant/animal is not recognizable any more. I am thinking of course, about products like surimi, American "cheese" slices, high fructose corn syrup, caramel coloring, hydrogenated soybean oil, that pseudo popcorn butter, pink slime in our burgers, artificial colors, carcinogenic compound energy drinks that taste like a mixture of Mountain Dew and acid. And  let's not forget that strawberry flavoring (like the kind you get in fast food milkshakes) is a mix of about 50 separate chemicals and none of them have berry in the name. They include:

Amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, g-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent. 

And I hate to burst your bubble but even wasabi is just a fancy name for regular old, traditional grated horseradish with green food coloring added to it. Ya Allah! What are we all eating?

Let's just get away from all this junk including food faddism and get back to our traditional ways.

Getting back to Whole Foods, one of my favorite things at their salad bar was their Mediterrean style tuna salad. Missing it for years one day I decided to re-create it at home. And I'm happy to say it turned out delicious.

Cuting out most of the mayonnaisse and subbing it for yogurt, this tuna salad is not only lighter and refreshing but has less calories. Also it's packed full of protein that'll keep you energized better throughout your day. Nice on a sourdough bagutte, inside a pita bread pocket, on toast or just mounded on a bed of mesclun greens.

We usually go picnicing all year round - weather premitting but there is a specialness about picnics in the summer. Here is an easy salad for summer. You can serve like a dip with bread or spread onto beautifully baked Matlou or buns. Above you can see some buns I made using my All purpose yeast dough.

CLICK HERE for the recipe.

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{ Mediterranean tuna salad sandwich }

a mediterranean healthy twist on the classic tuna salad sandwich   

SERVING

YIELD: serves 4

ACTIVE PREP TIME: 10-15 mins 

INACTIVE PREP TIME: 0 mins

COOK TIME: 0mins

EQUIPMENT

mixing bowl, can opener, spoon, knife, cutting board

۞ = SUBSTITUTIONS

. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cans of water packed tuna fish (6oz - 160g)
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/8 tsp salt(watch the salt here, the olives and capers are already salted)
• 1 cup shredded carrots (about 2 large)
•  1 cup diced celery
• 20 large kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• 1-12oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp capers, drained and chopped
• 2 tsp diced hot cherry peppers (optional)
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 4 eggs hard boiled and chopped roughly
• 1 tsp baking soda 
• handful of chopped fresh parsely, thyme and oregano
• 3-4 TBS mayonnaisse ( add + or - according to how you like it more 'wet' or more 'dry')
• 1 pot (90g -4oz) of plain natural yoghurt

METHOD

POUR the water into a saucepot and bring to a boil. Add the eggs in a sauce pot with the baking soda. Cook for 15 minutes on a low fire. Once cook, remove from the water and place in a bowl of cold water, then peel.

PREPARE the vegetables by chopping the peppers, onions and celery finely; shred the carrots and  pit the olives. 

PLACE the ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Spoon in the mayo, mustard and yogurt. Mix to combine. Using scissors snip in the fresh herbs. Stir together the ingredients in abowl.
Cover and chill until ready to serve.

to serve 

Serve with salad style on a bed of lettuce as above. Or serve with bread with your choice of topping: tomatoes, salty Feta or halloumi cheese, pickles, spinach or another leafy green.

KITCHEN TIPS

Storage
This tuna salad keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge.

Subsitution
You can omit the mayo for a healthier salad. Or use creme fraiche with the yoghurt for a truly smooth and silky French flavour.

SAHA F'TOURKOUM! 

 CATEGORIES:  BARS AND COOKIES, BREAKFAST

SOURCE:  HENI

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Do you like tuna salad? 

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