Mediterranean tuna salad
This is one of those recipes that was created with a specific goal: to make a healthy salad using canned tuna that was actually, properly I want to eat that tasty, not just meh, ok, I guess I have to make do with the canned tuna type meal, or even worse – but it’s healthy, so I’ll suffer through something bland. No. I can’t. I just can’t sacrifice enjoyment of meals for the sake of low calorie eating. Life is too short to eat miserably, even for skinny jeans! But, really tasty meals that also happen to be low carb, gluten-free, low calorie and economical are special. Today’s Mediterranean Tuna Salad is one such recipe. I hope you love it as much as I do!
Ingredients for this Mediterranean tuna salad
Think: a loaded tabbouleh. Except with tuna, a creamy feta dressing, added bulk and nutritional goodness from kale, plus olives, capsicum and red radish. Hmmm…reading that back, it really doesn’t sound similar to tabbouleh at all! But you get my drift. It has a tabbouleh like spoon-able texture. But it’s more substantial so you can have it as a meal.
THE CREAMy FETA DRESSING
This salad gets good flavour from the tuna tumbled all throughout so the dressing itself doesn’t need a ton of ingredients. Also, the feta does a lot of heavy lifting here!
Danish feta – This is the creamy type of feta. The texture is halfway between a crumbly Greek feta and soft goats cheese. It crumbles but in a smeary way and it can be used to toss through salads but also easily purees into a creamy dressing.If using Greek feta, the more crumbly type (ie your fingers don’t get smeary when you crumble it), the dressing will take a little more blitzing effort to make it smooth and a dollop of yogurt to help make it creamy wouldn’t go astray either. Lemon juice – Fresh and tangy! The dressing is bright and tangy, reminiscent of tabbouleh but not as sharp (tabbouleh is usually just lemon). The lemon tang offsets the creaminess of the feta. Extra virgin olive oil – The better the quality, the better the flavour! Salt and pepper – For seasoning.
CANNED TUNA – CHOOSING
Not all tuna is created equal and not all tuna is sourced responsibly! If using Greek feta, the more crumbly type (ie your fingers don’t get smeary when you crumble it), the dressing will take a little more blitzing effort to make it smooth and a dollop of yogurt to help make it creamy wouldn’t go astray either. Use a tuna in olive oil for a tastier option, and choose:
best – skipjack tuna pole and line caught acceptable – FAD-free purse seine caught skipjack tuna (most common at large Australian grocery stores)
Do not buy bluefin and big eye tuna (endangered), or tuna that is caught using FADs with purse seine nets, gillnetting and longlining (high cost to marine life). Opt for skipjack tuna, and eat less albacore and yellowfin tuna. Check the canned tuna label to determine tuna species and fishing method. For recommended brands and more information on choosing responsible canned tuna, read this post: Choosing sustainable canned tuna.
THE SALAD STUFF
OK! And lastly the leafy green and vegetable stuff that goes inside this tuna salad. Pro tip: Curly kale is easy to chop into little pieces because it practically “self crumbles” once you start chopping!
Kale – I use curly kale in this salad because it’s easier to chop into little pieces thanks to the shape of leaf which lends itself to “crumbling” as you chop (as long as it’s fresh and perky not old and floppy). However, tuscan kale (aka cavolo nero/black or lacinato kale) can be used in a pinch.Other options – baby spinach, cabbage or other greens sturdy enough to finely chop. Red radish – For perky freshness and lovely little pops of pink! Substitute with red onion or green onion. Red capsicum – A medium or large size one. Yellow would also be great and add to the kaleidoscope of colour here! Tomatoes – Unlike many salads where tomato is chopped into small pieces, we are not deseeding it today. Scrape all the watery seeds into the salad – it forms part of the “dressing”! Kalamata olives – Whole pitted olives that we will cut into four pieces. I like doing that because you get these little juicy briny bits of olives littered throughout the salad. Pre-sliced olives don’t have quite the same meaty little bite to it, though you can absolutely use it for convenience. Parsley – For herby freshness, and a nod to the tabbouleh-aspiration. Cucumber – I use what we call Lebanese cucumbers here, the ones that are around 18cm / 7″ long. If you are using the long telegraph cucumbers (about 30cm / 12″ long), you’ll need just over half.
How to make this fabulous tuna salad
One of the more technical recipes on this website: Other options – baby spinach, cabbage or other greens sturdy enough to finely chop. (Forgive me, sometimes I have to find ways to amuse myself during long days working at home alone!😂)
1. MAKE Creamy feta dressing
I find it easiest to use a stick blender for this dressing. There’s not enough volume to use a regular size food processor though a small one would work. A blender is a bit of a pain for small volume creamy dressings, I find. Too hard to scrap it all out.
2. TOSS SALAD
I haven’t included step photos for chopping the vegetables because it doesn’t really matter what shape or how you chop them, as long as they are small spoon-able size. However, I demo the vegetable chopping in the recipe video below. And you’re done – time to eat!
Ways to eat this tuna salad
It’s pretty well documented in the decade of recipes contained on this website that I’m a big fan of salads you can eat with a spoon rather than a knife and fork (proof here and here and here). Somehow just makes salads seem more satisfying as a meal, rather than a bowl of wimpy leafy greens that has me reaching into the cookie jar half an hour after dinner. (I can literally hear my mother rolling her eyes as she reads this, telling me to grow up! 😂) Anyway, all that was leading to the ground-breaking instruction to serve this salad in a bowl and eat it with a spoon. Or – stuff it into pita pockets for the best tuna sandwich of your life. – Nagi x PS Mmmm, that might be a bit of an excessively grandiose statement! Let’s say it’s equal best with the classic Tuna Sandwich. I have a very big soft spot for that one. And also see below the recipe card for some more canned tuna recipe options that I’m proud to say all continue to receive rave reviews, even from canned tuna skeptics! 😇
Watch how to make it
For canned tuna skeptics
Read the rave reviews! So many skeptics converted!
Life of Dozer
You’d swear they were big hunks of beef, the way he was eyeing off those (un-opened) cans. 😂
