I love a little crunch in my tuna salad. I also am not the biggest fan of mayonnaise; I like a dab but no more. Here's a tuna salad in that spirit — fresh, crisp, and light.
I used Wild Planet wild-caught tuna for this salad. (Sara Kate mentioned them in her roundup of the highlights at the 2009 Fancy Food Show.) Their tuna is a little more expensive, but it's more sustainably caught. It is also supposed to be lower in mercury. All good things, and the tuna itself was delicious. You can see it above, just after I opened the can. A solid mass of tuna! No little flecks and specks swimming in water.
Like I said, this salad is simple and fresh; it benefits from a healthy helping of black pepper. I'd love to add a little garlic next time — an addition just for weekend lunches, perhaps! (Tuna and garlic? No need to overwhelm your coworkers!)
Crisp Tuna-Cabbage Salad
2 servings
One 5-ounce can tuna, drained
2 cups finely chopped cabbage
1/4 cup minced chives
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
3 tablespoons yogurt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Shred the tuna with a fork and stir in the rest of the ingredients. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Eat immediately or else refrigerate for up to two days.
Related: Cheap Eats: 10 Ways to Use a Can of Tuna
(Images: Faith Durand)
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Comments (19)
This sounds like a great combination: crunchy and creamy at the same time.
I know it's delicious, I love The Kitchn, but let's stop promoting tuna salad, for the sake of an endangered species.
Doralora, it was my understanding that bluefin tuna is endangered, but albacore from the U.S. and Canadian Pacific is still a sustainable choice.
Fresh cumin is always awesome with tuna as well. Also not a fan of mayo I use mustard. Might be a bit much in this recipe but for a tuna sand, it's awesome.
cheers
This looks great!
yum. i used to make something similar with the addition of pepitas, chopped avocado and crumbled feta. it tasted amazing!
Am I the only weirdo who loves that darker, separated, watery tuna? It's so moist...before I add it to anything I pinch bits out of the can with my fingers while no one is looking...though of course the smell on my breath is a bit of a giveaway, ew.
Made this last night and it was fantastic. I put a little sesame oil in it which i think gave it a nice nutty hint. Great recipe!
cheers
I'm concerned about overfishing in the tuna population, too...and it seems like Monterrey Bay Aquarium (http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_alternatives.aspx) has given the green-light to troll and pole & line caught albacore. Of course, major national brands don't state how their fish is caught which usually means you don't want to know. The brand listed above seems to pass the Seafood Watch test though. Be judicious in your purchases I suppose. I know my local grocery stores do not carry sustainable options. Maybe Whole Foods does, but I can't be sure.
This makes for an amazing lunch. Love the chives. We included in a roundup of lunches in Poor Taste magazine. http://www.poortastemag.com/
I absolutely love this salad, and so does my 16-month old! I used green onions instead of chives. Or are those the same thing? Anyway, it was spectacular.
What a great idea. I love how you packed so much cabbage in there. I'm crazy about tuna salad with lots of chopped Swiss chard, but I never thought about cabbage. I bet it has a great crunch! :)
this is SO delicious. Made it tonight for dinner and it was a hit with my entire non Tuna eating family.
This looks right up my alley, will be trying it for lunches later this week!
Black olives is a must for tuna spread in my house, sometimes complemented by a little crunchy celery, but cabbage sounds like a pretty nifty addition.
An over-killed species that contains mercury? Any mercury is too much. No thanks. I haven't eaten tuna in at least 25 years, and never will again. You know that old saying that someone is "mad as a hatter"? People went mad - insane - because mercury was used in the manufacture of hats a long time ago, and humans are very susceptible to its effects. I would make this with chicken or turkey, though.
Please be advised:
http://water.epa.gov/scitech/swguidance/fishshellfish/outreach/advice_index.cfm
Albacore is higher in mercury than canned light, and dark tuna - well, I shudder.
Giving it to children under five? Not good.
The amount of mercury, like the amount of sodium in seafood dependes entirely on what the fish ate - what its environment was. Some shrimp, for instance, are poisonously high in sodium and some are not, like those that are farm-raised. You dont know what's in the tuna you get because it is so individual. They sure can't measure each fish and put a label on it as if it were a cake mix or a can of corn where ingredients can be controlled.
Just made this and enjoyed it on some toasted Ezekiel bread. DELISH! Thank you! ~
I know I'm late to the party but I just made this for dinner with the above suggestions (sesame oil, garlic) and it is fantastic. So simple and healthy. Going to throw in some grainy mustard and cayenne next time.