Sprint 2 the Table

Appetites and Adventures

Curried Apple Tuna Salad

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Did you see Friday’s Strange But Good?

The mystery stranger was a Curried Apple Tuna Salad.  You guys know I’m a fan of the sweet and savory.  This recipe is a perfect storm!

The tuna salad my mom made for lunch after church on Sunday’s always included apple.  I stopped eating seafood for years, but I always enjoyed the crispness of chopped apple in salads.  When I was looking for a new way to jazz-up my tuna salad, it was an obvious addition.

Mom also added a boat-load of mayo to our tuna (Hellman’s not Duke’s).  Mayo is certainly NOT on my diet these days.  No big deal – I haven’t liked the stuff for years.  But I do need something to add moisture to my tuna, and to make the flavor less like… errrr… canned tuna.

 

 

The sauce I came up with is a rich tahini curry.  Tahini’s sweet sesame flavor is perfect with a little nuttiness from nutritional yeast.  Both are natural pairs with the warm, almost ginger-like curry powder.

Turmeric is a big component of yellow curry powder.  I’ve always loved the flavor, but it is also a great source of antioxidants.  Just a teaspoon of curry powder has as many antioxidants as ½ cup of red grapes!

Arugula is one of my favorite greens.  In fact, it may be my absolute favorite.  Its peppery taste is perfect with curry, and the sweet apple balanced those stronger flavors.

This is an awesome tuna salad for those who don’t particularly like tuna salad.

Recipe at bottom.

Workout Recap

This week we moved up to doing 15 reps of each exercise.  You wouldn’t think 3-5 more reps would make a big difference, but I assure you it DOES!  Between that and the 100 pull-ups, I stayed sore all week.  It hurts so good.

Saturday I picked out my suit (if you follow me on Instagram you may have seen the fabric), and this week I need to go find costume jewelry and get some super-dark make up for my soon-to-be orange skin.  The sodium cut and the pull-ups are working.  I’m really starting to see a difference in my body.  It’s pretty cool… though I have a lot to work on in the next 19 days.  Time is flying!  

Workout Recap (10/8 – 10/14):

  • Monday – Chest/Bis, 100 pull-ups, Calf raises, 2 mile incline walk
  • Tuesday – Shoulders/Glutes, 1.5 mile incline walk
  • Wednesday – Back/Tris, 100 pull-ups, Calf raises, 1.75 mile incline walk
  • Thursday – Shoulders/Glutes, 100 pull-ups, 2 mile walk 
  • Friday – Chest/Bis, 100 pull-ups, Calf raises, 1 mile walk
  • Saturday – Legs (with trainer)
  • Sunday – Back/Tris, 100 pull-ups, Calf raises, 2 mile walk

Curried Apple Tuna Salad

  • 2 oz canned Albacore tuna*
  • 1/2 apple, diced
  • 1/2 C arugula
  • 1 T nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp tahini
  • 1/4 tsp curry powder
  • Red pepper flakes, to taste (optional)

Combine the tuna, apple, and arugula in a bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together the remaining ingredients with enough water to form a sauce.  Pour sauce over the tuna mixture and stir to combine.

*Note: Tempeh would work well here to make this vegan.

Makes 1 serving, easily doubled.

***

I need a weekend to recover from my weekend.

Do you like tuna salad?

Was there a dish your family had on certain days of the week?

Comments

  1. As much as I love tuna, I just can’t get myself to eat the canned variety! I might have to try this with rotisserie chicken though-I think it could be a win :)! After a week tracking your sodium, do you think you could go back to eating the way you used to, after knowing just how much sodium everything had?

    • It would be awesome with chicken too! I just grilled some tonight with curry and coconut milk.

      I think I could go back to eating what I was before – around 1500 a day. I could never do like I was in another life. I don’t know what I was taking it, but I know it wasn’t good! Once you break the habit, if something is salty it’s almost inedible.

  2. I can’t say that I like tuna at all, so I don’t think I would like tuna salad – I wish I liked fish more! It is so good for your health!

    Girl no wonder you are so sore, 100 pull ups is ROUGH. But seeing results definitely makes it soooo worth it 🙂

    and damn, those muscles look awesome! You are for SURE gonna rock your competition 🙂

    • I was the same way. I don’t know what happened, but a year ago I fell in love with swordfish and it went from there.

  4. I know I need less sodium 🙂 even if all my medical tests say I’m great. I retain so much water…

      • Steve’s right – since I started drinking 120 oz a day I’m actually less bloated. It does take about a week to adjust though!

  6. I just showed Tony your arms…he said “dang!”. You look great! I’m so happy your seeing results and I’m just so incredibly excited for you! When I ate seafood, I would do do tuna with fresh tomatoes and canned artichoke hearts…so good! I love the freshness with the tuna. Makes it a lot less heavy! The only meal that I remember on a certain day was when we ate pork roast with a mayo/mustard sauce (I did not eat that…ugh, mayo), lima beans, coleslaw (I did not eat that either), rolls and pecan pie or German chocolate cake on Sundays after church when we stayed with my dad because my grandmother always cooked a feast after church. I still remember the smells in the kitchen! Best memories!

    • Tell Tony I said thanks! 🙂

      I really miss artichoke hearts… they apparently are salty. Boo. I’ll pass on the mayo too, but that German Chocolate Cake sounds fabulous!!

    • Thank you!!! Let me know how you like it. I’ll be traveling with it this week for work. Oh, the stares…

  8. I love curry and apple together! I’ve made big things of curry stew with apple in it–something about the sweet just goes so well with curry! And genius to add tahini to tuna for moisture. I tried plain canned tuna again. It’s still like eating dry fishy-flavored dirt. But ohhh, the protein!

    I get to see your changes this weekend!

    • You definitely need a strong sauce with it. Especially canned tuna. Or try something different… swordfish is my favorite!

      4 more days!!! 🙂

  10. No seafood for me now but when I did eat it, I loved making tuna salad from canned tuna – yum! And we used to eat pizza every Friday growing up – it was a weekly treat for us since we ate Indian food the rest of the week. It’s funny how we used to complain about that…I would do anything for Indian food every day now!

    • Isn’t that funny? I’m the same way with some of my mom’s dishes. And with Indian food. 🙂

    • I forgot she used to put grapes in it too! Apples were always my favorite though for the crunch.

  12. I don’t eat tuna anymore, and I’m not a fan of tempeh, but this salad might also work with smoked tofu or black beluga lentils. Great idea!
    When I was a kid, the catholic tradition of meatless Fridays was still very common in South Germany, so we often had pancakes (thin ones, filled with jam or cinnamon and sugar), potato latkes with sour cream and ketchup, thick yeasty raisin blinis, french toast, or canned herring in tomato sauce with hash browns. Sounds a lot like breakfast for lunch. Sometimes I miss my grandma’s cooking.

    • For sure! I love curry with tofu!

      German pancakes are the best. Lucky you getting to eat them all the time!

      • Those pancakes are very easy to make! Recipe on my blog. You could give them a try after your competition. 😉

  15. nice guns! glad the sodium cut has been working for you.

    I’m hoping you’re opting for a spray tan. 🙂 And I can’t wait to see an orange you in stripper heels (and I’m holding back some giggles, but you’ll look hot).

    Again, mind reader. Mark was looking for lunch options and we have tuna and arugula. I don’t want to do groceries this week because we stocked the freezer last week and got our CSA haul.

  16. Sooooo your arms look INCREDIBLE!

    I am a tuna salad fan, and I can’t wait to give yours a try. I always put apples in my chicken salad, I don’t know why I didn’t think to do it in my tuna salad. Thanks for the great idea!

  17. I loved tuna salad a lot until I got food poisoning from a can of tuna… Then I couldn’t eat it for years. I went over to my grandmother’s house and she randomly made tuna salad sandwiches so I had to eat it and that helped me (mostly) get over the fear of canned tuna. Now, I only eat it on occasion though. This sounds like the perfect recipe to make though! I love curry! Also, had no idea how good for you it is.. so interesting!

    • Oh no! That would scare me off of tuna too.

      Guess who I saw last night?! Arepa Mia!!! Can we go in 19 days? 🙂

  21. Tahini and apples in tuna sounds delicious to me. You’re looking so strong, Laura! What is it with the orange skin? I’ve noticed that in other competition pictures… you’re supposed to look really tan I guess?

    • The super-tan makes you muscles look more defined on stage. I didn’t believe it until I saw a show. But man, they look crazy off stage!

  22. Sweet + savory is my fave combo, yum! I’ve had apples and grapes in chicken salad but never have tried it with tuna- my momma always used to add carrots and celery 😛 2 of my other fave tuna combos are: tuna + cottage cheese + salsa OR tuna + avocado!!!

    • Mom did celery too! No carrots… weird because it seems like a natural fit. I’ve never done tuna + cottage cheese. Must try that ASAP!

  23. NINETEEN days – I can’t believe you are in the teens. I’m so excited to see your final look, you have been seriously dedicated and extremely impressive. And then you can come celebrate in Colorado with lots of unapproved food and drinks. 🙂

  24. I’m not sold on the tuna on my salad, but I’m definitely doing apple on it tonight. I do love the idea of curry instead of mayo though. Pretty smart.
    Your arm looks awesome. Damn girl, you better get to the gun show.

  25. Curry + tuna + apples sounds like a good combo to me! You’re arm looks buff! Way to be 🙂 I like your suit… that color of blue will look great on you 🙂

  26. This recipe sounds DELISH girl! I love all your weird combos– it’s nice to know someone else appreciates the fact that weird = tasty haha 😀
    BTW You’re looking freaking awesome. I’m getting so excited for you!!

  27. Gosh, you are looking SO AWESOME, I can’t wait for you to compete! Can I ask, when you do your incline walks( I’m presuming on a treadmill?), do you do a particular routine/ walk at a certain incline?

    That salad must taste sooo good with the tahini & apple, yummy:).
    Xxx

    • Thank you so much!

      I started doing the inclines at random. Sometimes intervals using commercial breaks to time it and sometimes just walking at a constant incline. just an experiment to see if it helped my butt. 🙂

  29. I actually really love tuna salad, but it has to be light on the mayo. I actually don’t mind tuna straight from the can. Have you tried it mixed with either hummus or salsa (or both)? That’s good too.

    • Have you ever had the tuna salad from Metro Fresh? Theirs is the only one I can tolerate.

      YES! But I can’t have either right now. 🙁

  31. So…where you’re ears burning last night? Because I was totally bragging on you to a co-worker…I even showed her this pick from Instagram and she was like, “Daaaaaang”…especially once I told her you’re a shortie! 😉 I’m so proud of you girl! You’ve worked so hard and it’s RALLY paying off! You look fantastic! But um….no more rest days until competition? Or was this just a special masochistic week? 😉

    I KNEW it was tuna! Lol! I love tuna salad…at least NOW I do. My little sister practically lived off of it when we were younger and it got old for me FAST! Plus my mom always made it the same way…tuna, mayo, relish, and sometimes if we were lucky she’d add a hardboiled egg! Now I love mixing it up with yogurt, or even just mustard sometimes…but I’ll have to give this a try…I’m intrigued by your curry-nooch sauce! But actually, I’m kinda surprised you’re still able to eat tuna what with the 500mg of sodium a day…god that’s got to be tough! 18 more days! 😀

    We never really had days of the week marked for certain foods, but I always lived for the Saturday or Sunday mornings when my mom would fix a HUGE breakfast for all of us…eggs, bacon/sausage, biscuits with butter, honey, and/or molasses, and home fries! Mmmm! I was a die hard breakfast lover even at the age of 10! Haha!

    • Really?! Thank you! Shorties rock!!! I normally rest on Sunday, but ‘m traveling for work this week and have to take a week day off so I shifted.

      Tuna is actually really easy to fins low sodium! The WF brand no salt added is only like 19mg and Bumble Bee make one that 35mg. By the end of this, I’m going to be able to rattle off sodium stats like a crazy person…

      Molasses is such a Southern thing! I haven’t had it in years. Maybe time to bring that back…. post comp, of course.

  32. Yum. This salad looks really good! Has some of my favorite flavors. I always loved my best friend’s mom for her tuna salad. Her tuna salad was really southern with a heavy dose of mustard, eggs, and celery. Ugh, I want it now.

    • My mom would make some with and some without eggs – to this day I don’t like hard-boiled eggs!

  34. Dear heavens I love nutritional yeast. Back home, if I ran out of tofu, I’d mix canned tuna with nutritional yeast and hot sauce for a protein snack. Love the apple twist!

  35. This salad looks so delicious! And your arms look amazing!!! I am so jealous!
    I have a stupid question for ya… what are the benefits of nutritional yeast?! I see a lot of bloggers put it on top of their meals, yet I was not exactly sure of its benefits? Does it help you with your weight lifting at all?

    • Thank you!!

      Nutritional yeast is good stuff. Many vegans use it in place of cheese, but I think it has a nuttier taste. I started using it when I went vegan for a while because it’s a great source of B-12 and protein.

      • Oh okay I see! Awesome thank you!!! I have just always been curious, I am sure I could have googled it, but you never know if you can find the truth or not haha I’ll have to give it a try, sounds like good stuff!

Trackbacks

  1. […] time.  No one else in the meeting was eating, and I needed a protein and a fruit.  I packed my Curried Tuna Salad (sans apple) in a baggie.  It is delicious, but curry and tuna have a strong […]

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