Cook Now

Avocado Tuna Salad

This fresh and healthy avocado tuna salad swaps the classic mayo for nutrient-rich avocado! It will become your new go-to after first bite.

Here’s a healthy lunch or dinner idea to spice up your routine: avocado tuna salad! This spin swaps out the classic mayonnaise for nutrient-rich avocado. The flavor is so fresh and delicious, you may give up the mayo version altogether. Alex and I might like this even better than classic tuna salad (except our recipe is really the very best so it’s a hard call). It takes only a handful of ingredients and 10 minutes to put together. It’s easy to forget about tuna salad, but this one is now solidly part of our healthy meal repertoire!

Ingredients for avocado tuna salad

The best part about tuna salad? You can make it using mostly pantry ingredients. Of course, you’ll need a ripe avocado. But other than the celery and onion, it’s totally pantry. Here’s what you’ll need to make it:

1 can tuna (water packed or oil packed work)
1/2 ripe avocado
Celery
Red onion
Dill pickles are the key to getting that classic tangy flavor!
Lemon juice for a little pop
Dijon mustard adds just the right savory note

All you have to do is chop the veggies, then mash the ingredients together with a fork. This might just win the easiest meal ever award!

How to safely pit & chop an avocado

The only technique to avocado tuna salad recipe is making sure to safely pit your avocado! Many people have issues with knife safety when cutting this green fruit. Here’s the best way to cut an avocado:

Cut lengthwise around the avocado. Twist the two halves to separate them.
Place a towel in your hand and put the avocado on top. With a gentle but quick motion, tap the knife into the avocado pit.
Don’t remove the avocado pit with your hand! Instead, pull the cutting board close to your body, then place the pit against the far edge of the cutting board and pull back to release it from the knife. (Watch the video below for this part!)
Use a large spoon to scoop out the avocado from the peel. Place the avocado with the cut side down, then cut it into slices and then rough pieces.

Ways to serve avocado tuna salad: the sandwich & beyond!

Of course, the first way you’ll think of to serve this healthy tuna salad is the classic sandwich! There are lots of other creative ways to serve it: especially gluten-free and Paleo options. Here are some ideas:

Sandwich: There’s nothing wrong with the classic! Try our Artisan Bread (shown here), No Knead Bread, Whole Wheat Bread, or Best Sourdough.
Lettuce wraps: Try tuna salad wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves!
Main dish salad: Or, place the avocado tuna salad on mixed greens and add some sliced tomatoes and hard boiled eggs. Instant meal!
Crostini or crackers: Spread over baguette slices or crackers. For gluten free or Paleo, try our homemade almond crackers.
In an avocado: What to do with the other half of your avocado? Use it for serving your tuna salad!

Avocado nutrition

Alex and I aren’t against mayo over here. Our classic tuna salad has a touch of mayo along with some Greek yogurt, and so does our tuna salad with egg. But it’s fun to have a variation that maximizes the nutrition of this healthy fruit. Here are some facts about avocado nutrition…as if you needed more inspiration to eat it! (Source)

Rich in fiber. Avocados have lots of fiber; one serving has 7 grams or about 25% your daily value.
Full of heart healthy “good” fats. Avocados are full of monounsaturated oleic acid, a heart-healthy fatty acid.
Loaded with vitamins and nutrients. They’re also filled with a long list of vitamins.

This avocado tuna salad recipe is…

Pescatarian, gluten-free and dairy-free.

Avocado Tuna Salad

(5 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)

5 from 5 reviews

Author: Sonja Overhiser
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 10 minutes
Yield: 2

Print Recipe

Description

This fresh and healthy avocado tuna salad swaps the classic mayo for nutrient-rich avocado! It will become your new go-to after first bite.

Ingredients

1 5-ounce can white meat tuna
1/2 celery rib (1/4 cup finely chopped)
2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/4 cup chopped dill pickles (2 pickles)
1/2 ripe avocado
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

Drain the tuna. Place it in a bowl and use a fork to break apart any large clumps.
Roughly chop the avocado. Finely chop the celery, red onion, and dill pickles.
Mix together the tuna and vegetables with the remaining ingredients. Eat immediately: the avocado will start to brown after exposure to air.

Category: Lunch
Method: Stirred
Cuisine: American

Keywords: Avocado Tuna Salad

More healthy lunch ideas

Tuna salad is perfect for lunch! Here are a few more healthy lunch ideas you might enjoy:

Kale Quinoa Salad This colorful kale quinoa salad is full of healthy ingredients and tastes incredible! Meal prep this easy plant-based lunch idea for meals all week.
Avocado Toast The classic! It’s so easy to make and delicious every time.
Simple Chickpea Salad A 5-minute fast lunch idea! Easy to throw together: the perfect healthy plant based desk lunch or quick fix dinner.
Avocado Grilled Cheese Sandwich This avocado grilled cheese is a simple way to step up the standard! In just 10 minutes, it makes an easy meal with soup or salad.

A Couple Cooks - Healthy, Whole Food, & Vegetarian Recipes

from A Couple Cooks https://ift.tt/2UmVFdu

0 comments

Easy No Knead Bread

This homemade no knead bread will wow everyone! It’s so easy to make and has the best flavor, crispy crust, and chewy interior. Great for beginners!

Want to bake easy homemade bread, but not sure where to start? Try this best no knead bread recipe! Your friends and family will sing your praises. Neighbors following the wafting smell will come flocking. You’ll get multiple marriage proposals. Yes, this bread is life changing! It’s got the best flavor: lightly tangy and robust. The exterior is the perfect crisp crust, and the interior has the perfect moist chewiness. Even better: it’s our easiest bread recipe yet. If you’re a bread baking beginner, this is the place to start.

Want an even quicker loaf bread? Try our Easy Homemade Bread or Easy Whole Wheat Bread, which are made with a loaf pan and take just 2.5 hours.

How to make no knead bread: an overview!

Here’s the basic outline of what you’re getting yourself into with no knead bread. The process takes 5 minutes the night before, and then about 2 hours the day of. Compared to our sourdough bread and even our artisan bread, it’s the quickest and easiest bread recipe we have. (But if you want to make a bread recipe in one day, the artisan bread is your best option.) Here’s an outline of what you’ll have to do:

Mix, Rest overnight	5 minutes active, 12 to 18 hours hands off
Shape & Proof	5 minutes active, 1 hour hands off
Bake	40 minutes, hands off
Cool	45 minutes, hands off

Equipment list for no knead bread

Making no knead bread requires a few tools. It’s easiest to make with a Dutch oven, but you can also use a pizza stone. There are several optional tools as well that make things easier, but are not required. Here’s what you need!

Required tools for this artisan bread recipe

Large dutch oven OR pizza stone with steam (see below)
Plastic bag for proofing (reuse it every time you make bread) or plastic wrap
Parchment paper
Lame OR sharp knife for scoring the bread
Kitchen scale for measuring (optional)

The flours you’ll use

This best easy no knead bread recipe uses a mix of just two flours you’ll probably already have in your pantry. Unlike some of our other bread recipes, there’s no need for bread flour. Here’s what you’ll need:

All-purpose flour (for texture
Whole wheat flour (for flavor)

Think ahead! No knead bread rests overnight

This bread requires thinking ahead 1 day ahead. You’ll need to rest the bread dough overnight. Why? Well, the answer has to do with proofing.

No knead bread requires only 1 proof. Proofing is simply letting the bread stand at room temperature while the leavener (yeast or sourdough) does its magic to help the bread rise. Usually a proof is about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Both our sourdough bread and artisan bread require folding and “proofing” the bread multiple times. So doing only 1 proof is almost unheard of!
The tradeoff? Resting overnight. Proofing is hands off, but it does require a lot of time to fold and proof multiple times. The tradeoff: you’ll need to rest the bread at room temperature overnight. To us, that’s a very worthy tradeoff! You save hours of bread making time the day of baking.

How to shape the boule

The main part of making no knead bread that requires technique is shaping the dough. You’ll shape it into a ball, called a boule. It’s easiest to learn how to shape the dough by watching. Here’s a video instruction for shaping the boule.

How to score the bread

See those beautiful lines on the top of the artisan bread? Those are called score lines. Scoring is slashing the top of the dough with a sharp knife to allow it to expand when baking. You can also make a decorative sort of pattern on the bread. Here are a few tips for scoring no knead bread:

Use your sharpest knife, or a lame. You’ll want the knife to be ultra sharp. We purchased a lame for this, since we make lots of bread recipes.
Make shallow cuts into the top of the dough. You want to cut just the surface — if it’s too deep it collapses, if it’s too shallow it bursts. Alex did this cross pattern for the bread scoring in this photo!

What’s a Dutch oven? Do I need it?

This easy no knead bread is best when baked in a Dutch oven. Why? Baking bread in a covered Dutch oven holds in the steam that the bread releases as it cooks. This makes an extra crispy crust & perfect rise. If you don’t have a Dutch oven, you can use a pizza stone (see below).

What is a Dutch oven? It’s a heavy cooking pot with a lid used for braising meat and making soups and stews. You can use it on the stovetop or in the oven. All Dutch ovens are made of cast iron; some have an enamel coating that makes them easier to clean.

What’s the best Dutch oven? Here’s the one we use for bread: Lodge 6 Quart Cast Iron Dutch Oven.
What can I make with a Dutch oven? You can make all sorts of things, from risotto to soup. Go to 12 Easy Dutch Oven Recipes.

Or, use a pizza stone to bake no knead bread!

You also can use a pizza stone to bake this no knead bread! The best way is with a Dutch oven, but if you don’t have one you can use a pizza stone. You’ll also have to make extra steam in your oven. To do that, you’ll use a baking sheet and pour boiling water onto it right when you add the bread. This creates steam, which makes that crispy crust.

What’s the best pizza stone? Here’s the pizza stone we recommend.
What can I make with a pizza stone? PIZZA! Try our Pizza Dough Master Recipe & 20 Best Pizza Recipes!

Storing no knead bread

Because this no knead bread has no preservatives, so the storage recommendations are different from a bread you might buy from the store. Here’s what to do:

Room temperature storage (2 days): Once you’ve baked your homemade bread, it is best eaten within 48 hours. We store ours wrapped in cloth at room temperature. Use a clean dish towel or a bread bag.
Frozen (3 months): Or, you can freeze it! It’s easy to cut your bread in half and freeze half of it! Let it cool to room temperature, then cut it into slices and place it into a sealed bag or container.

This no knead bread recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, and dairy free.