Cucumber & Tuna Salad with Balsamic Dressing GF
Why I Love This Recipe
Even though I adore my grains (whole grain breads, pastas, etc.), I'm attempting to get the majority of carbohydrates from vegetable and fruit sources. This is a lunch salad with a great ratio of fats (fats are good! but only if they are good fats), protein, and carbs. It also has a very nice Omega 3:6 ratio.
Plus, why take a multi vitamin when you can get all of your vitamins and minerals from real, whole foods?
note: updated to gluten-free November 16, 2010 (no modifications required)
Ingredients You'll Need
3/4 cucumber, raw including skin, chopped
1/2 sweet bell pepper, green, raw with skin, chopped
1/4 small avocado, chopped
1 tsp capers with liquid
2.8 ounce cup of chuck "light" tuna (light is from the smaller fish and therefore, less likely to contain the higher levels of mercury that albacore contains)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (try them out during a free sample day at your local market)
1 small sprinkle salt (optional)
Directions
Chop cucumber, green pepper, and avocado into uniform cubes. Put in plastic container in this order: green peppers in bottom, cucumbers in middle, avocado slices on top. Top with all of the other ingredients except the tuna. Pop it in the fridge to take with you to work in your lunch bag the next day. Prior to eating, toss in container, turn out onto a plate, top with the tuna.
Serves 1
*adding in a certain order allows the green peppers, the ingredients with the most structure, to sit in the liquids, preventing the other veggies from softening too much.
Nutrition Information (estimate only):
Calories: 240
Protein: 23g
Carbs: 15g
Fiber: 4.6g
Fat: 10.8g
Water: 361.5g
Vitamin A: 24%
Folate: 14%
B1 (Thiamine): 13%
B2 (Riboflavin): 18%
B3 (Niacin): 84%
B5 (Pantothenic Acid): 26%
B6 (Pyridoxine): 46%
B12 (Cyanocobalamin): 99%
Vitamin C: 76%
Vitamin D: 72%
Vitamin E: 13%
Vitamin K: 58%
Calcium: 6%
Copper: 27%
Iron: 13%
Magnesium: 21%
Manganese: 18%
Phosphorus: 31%
Potassium: 40%
Selenium: 118%
Sodium: 36%
Zinc: 17%
Saturated Fat: 1.7g
Monounsaturated: 6.8g
Polyunsaturated: 1.5g
Omega-3: 0.3g
Omega-6: 1.1g
Trans-Fats: 0
Cholesterol: 23.8 mg
