Served with Arugula and Pickled Radishes on Multigrain Bread
This is not your ordinary, plain Jane tuna salad. What you have here is the Moulin Rouge of tuna salads. The light and fresh ingredients will be doing the can-can across your pallet while simultaneously filling your belly and satisfying those hunger pangs.
ALSO, this is one recipe that will not break the bank during the quarantine. You will get a handful of meals out of it and all of the ingredients are inexpensive and accessible at your grocery store. So, the next time you need to brave heading outside during these crazy times, mask up, get your gloves on, and get your tuna fish on!
INGREDIENTS
10 oz (2 cans) chunk light tuna (in water), drained
¾ cup chickpeas, roughly chopped
¼ cup red quinoa, cooked
¼ cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1 tbsp chia seeds
1 stalk celery, chopped
¼ red onion, chopped
¼ cup dried cranberries
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of ½ a lemon
¼ cup nonfat Greek yogurt
¼ cup mayonnaise with olive oil
3-5 tbsps fresh dill, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp Old Bay Seasoning
DIRECTIONS
Cook the quinoa: Rinse the quinoa thoroughly in a sieve with cold water. In a small saucepan, bring 1 cup of cold water to a boil. Once the water is boiling, slowly add the quinoa so as to not splash the water. Cover and cook on low for 15-17 minutes, or until the water is completely absorbed. Remove from heat, fluff with a fork and cover for an additional 5 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff with a fork again, and allow to cool completely.
Drain the tuna and add to a large mixing bowl. Drain the chickpeas and thoroughly rinse in a sieve with cold water.
In a food processor, manually pulse the chickpeas 5-7 times or until they are cut into small pieces. Add to the mixing bowl with the tuna.
Add all of the remaining ingredients to the mixing bowl and mix until well combined. Feel free to use less or more Greek yogurt and mayonnaise depending on how wet or dry you like your tuna salad. Add additional Old Bay Seasoning, black pepper, and/or sea salt to taste.
Place in an airtight container and let it rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes before serving to allow the flavors to blend together.
To serve, place ½ a cup of tuna salad on multigrain bread with a small handful of fresh arugula and homemade pickled radishes. If you want to skip the carbs, add ¼ cup of tuna salad on a fresh bed of arugula with dried cranberries, chickpeas, quinoa, chopped pecans/walnuts, crushed black pepper, balsamic vinegar, and extra virgin olive oil.
