Cranberry Tuna Salad (Whole 30)

Is it too early to start with the  cranberry recipes?  The answer to that is hell no, it’s never too early for  cranberry  recipes.  Every year when fall hits and pumpkin spice is everywhere and in everything,  I try to find recipes that use the very under rated cranberry. 

This years cranberry festivities  are starting with a simple recipe for tuna salad.  The original says it tastes just like the cranberry tuna salad you get at Whole Foods.  I can’t speak to that because I have never had it.  I can speak to this is a very tasty tuna recipe that doesn”t have that strong fishy taste tuna salad recipes sometimes have.

Rather than serving this as a sandwich, I like to serve it on a bed of salad greens or stuffed in mini bell peppers.

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

From Coco and Ash

2 (5 oz) cans tuna, drained

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup chopped scallions

1 TBS lemon juice

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 tsp salt

In small bowl, combine all the ingredients and mix well. 

Nom Nom Salmon Patties (Whole 30)

This post should be titled how NOT to win friends and influence people.  After work  I went to the store to pick up some junk food.  I am tired and sick.   My kitchen is a mess and I don’t feel like cleaning it up just to mess it up again. I just wanted a box of Hot Pockets and a soda.  This lady, who doesn’t know me from Adam,  starts telling me how I shouldn’t eat Hot Pockets.  She went on and on about how they aren’t food and if I would just turn the box over and read the ingredients I would never let that stuff pass my lips.  The lady then went on about how she lost all this weight on a very strict diet but she never gets bored. Honestly, at this point I was just thinking like I give a shit.  I just told her I am aware that Hot pockets aren’t good for you that is why they are just an occasional treat.  I just walked away.

We all have strong opinions about things.  If you want to know one of my strong opinions, just ask me what I think this lady’s chances are of keeping off the weight she lost on this very restrictive diet.  We don’t need to preach to people about them or be judgemental when people have opinions that differ from ours.

The sad part is if this lady hadn’t pissed me off so bad by being so judgemental about the food I was eating and would have taken one breath and let me talk instead of insulting me she would have found our ideas about food aren’t all that different. I think this is generally true through out all areas of our lives.  If you have a passion about anything, go a head and share it but don’t tell me all the reasons I am wrong if I don’t agree with you.  I respect your right to tell me about your passion but please respect me when I tell you that your passion isn’t mine.

I love the Whole 30 program.  I had such a positive experience I want to share it with everyone and think everyone could benefit from it. One person I think could benefit from a Whole 30 is my friend, Steph. For as long as I have known her, she has had digestive issues that make her absolutely miserable. I think a doing a Whole 30 would give her belly time heal. At the very least, I think doing  Whole 30 would tell Steph what foods trigger her issues.  I asked her about it.  She said she wasn’t interested. If I would have been preachy  and judgemental and  proceeded to tell her how stupid she was being, how she  was screwing herself, which I never believed, and proceeded to further insult her I would have turned her off to the idea of a Whole 30 for ever.  I also would have lost her as a support and cheerleader on my next Whole 30.  Instead, Steph will be willing to listen to me talk about my Whole 30 experiences and maybe when she sees the results I get she will want to do her own round of Whole 30.

Nom Nom Salmon Patties

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted from Nom Nom Paleo Food For Humans
1 (14.75 oz) can salmon
2 TBS compliant Mayonnaise
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 TBS onion, minced
2 TBS almond flour, substitute all purpose flour if not Whole 30
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp dry mustard
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 TBS ghee or fat of choice
In a small bowl, combine the salmon, mayonnaise, scallions, egg, onion, 1 tablespoon of almond flour, paprika, dill, salt, mustard powder, garlic powder, and pepper. Form the mixture into 4 equal patties. Place the patties on a parchment lined plate and refrigerate for 30 minutes to help the patties stay together. Spread the remaining flour on a plate. Lightly dredge the patties in the flour, shaking off any of the excess flour. Heat the oil oer medium heat until it shimmers. Fry the patties for 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Transfer to a rack to drain off any oil.

Tuna Salad, 2 Ways (Whole 30)

Apparently,  I had a harder day at work then I thought.  I went to Taco Bell for a snack after work and the cashier gave me a senior discount.  I am 47.  Its a good thing I am not sensitive about my age.

Fortunately,  the rest of my week has gone much better than that.  Graduation season is over so my Saturdays in the bakery should get much less stressful.  This weekend I made some decisions, some big, some not so big, but now that they are made, I am feeling like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.I worked all of Sunday and most of Monday and got a rough draft of my Whole30  project almost completely done.  I haven’t worked that hard on pulling together a project since I was in college.  Now all I’ll have to do over the next two months is polish it and add recipes to the file as I find stuff that I like.

I know I said I was going to be gone until the end of the month  but you know I just can’t quit you for long.  So here I am with a post with some yummy tuna salad recipes for these hot, muggy, I gotta eat but I don’t want to heat up the house kinda days.  I serve them with sliced vegetables.

Harvest Tuna Salad

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

Adapted from Melissa Joulwan’s Well Fed Week Nights Cookbook

1 5 oz can tuna, packed in water

2 TBS dried cranberries

2 TBS pecans, chopped

1 stalk celery,  thinly sliced

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1-2 TBS mayo

Drain the tuna.  In a small bowl, combine the tuna, cranberries, pecans, celery,  and scallions.   Add mustard and mayonnaise.  Stir well.  Serve on a bed of greens and sliced vegetables.

Curry Tuna Salad

• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

1 5 oz can tuna, packed in water

1/2 apple, diced

2 TBS raisins

2 TBS sliced almonds

1 stalk celery, thinly sliced

2 scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp lime juice

1 -1 1/2 TBS mayo

Drain the tuna.  In a small bowl, combine the tuna, apple, raisins. almonds, celery, scallions, curry powder, and lime juice.  Add the mayonnaise.  Stir well.