Today's Recipe - Tuna Salad Surprise

Today's Recipe
If you don't know what to serve for dinner tonight ...
You will love this unique way of preparing a tuna salad with no mayonnaise. It's a perfect Healthiest Way of Eating for a dinner or lunch and provides an excellent "106% of the daily value" for those hard to find omega-3 fatty acids. Enjoy!
Tuna Salad Surprise
Prep and Cook Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients:

• 2 6 1/2 oz cans of light tuna, drained
• 1/4 cup finely diced celery
• 3 TBS chopped walnuts
• 3 TBS chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup finely minced onion
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 medium head romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1 small tomato, chopped, seeds and excess pulp removed
• 
  
• Dressing
• 3 medium cloves garlic, pressed
• 1 TBS prepared Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp honey
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper
• 4 TBS fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
• 4 oz silken tofu
• 1/2 tsp dried Italian herbs
• 2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
• a little water to thin if necessary

Directions:

1. Mince onions and press garlic and let sit for 5-10 minutes to bring out their health-promoting benefits.
2. Blend dressing ingredients in blender adding oil a little at a time at end (to incorporate). Blend well to make sure sunflower seeds are ground.
3. Mix tuna, celery, walnuts, parsley, onion, salt, and pepper.
4. Mix desired amount of dressing with tuna mixture.
5. Serve on bed of chopped romaine lettuce with chopped tomato.

Serves 4 Printer Friendly Version of Tuna Salad Surprise
In-Depth Nutritional Profile for Tuna Salad Surprise
Healthy Food Tip

Can you tell me about amaranth?

Amaranth has always had a place near and dear to my heart. Years ago, I heard about amaranth, the grain that had once been a staple in the diets of pre-Columbian Aztecs. I had learned that with the arrival of Cortez and the Spanish conquistadors, all crops of amaranth were burned, its use was forbidden, and its possession was cause for severe punishment. I set out to find this "lost" grain, to hopefully discover this treasure that lay at the heart of this incredibly powerful people.
After 300 years of it being in obscurity, I rediscovered amaranth in Mexico where I was honored to share it on ceremonial days with the descendents of the Aztecs, who believed that amaranth provided them with supernatural power. Therefore, it is not surprising to me when people say they are not familiar with amaranth as it was only in the 1970s that I reintroduced this ancient grain to the United States.
Amaranth is a moderately tall, broad-leafed, bushy type of plant that grows about six feet in height and produces a brightly colored flowery head containing a very large number of seeds. (Amaranth plants can produce as many as 60,000 seeds.) These seeds are the amaranth grains found in amaranth cereal and flour. Amaranth is a member of the Chenopodiaceae family of plants and therefore is a relative of beets, Swiss chard, spinach, and quinoa. For this reason, some of its nutritional characteristics are more like these dark green leafy vegetables than the cereal grain foods, which are members of an entirely different plant family, called Graminae. (Like, quinoa and millet, amaranth is not technically a grain, but because it is enjoyed in meals like other true grains, it is usually referred to as such.)
When it comes to a good number of nutrients, including numerous vitamins, minerals, and amino acids, amaranth is very similar to other grains (like wheat) as well as to other green leafy vegetables (like Swiss chard). However, I'd point to four nutrients as being significantly different when it comes to amaranth.
First is the amino acid lysine. Most cereal grains, like wheat, are relatively low in this amino acid. Alternatively, amaranth is relatively rich in this amino acid, containing approximately twice as much lysine as wheat on an ounce-for-ounce basis. Next are the minerals calcium, iron, and magnesium. In this mineral area, amaranth is much more like Swiss chard than wheat. It contains about four times as much calcium as wheat and twice as much iron and magnesium.
Amaranth can be simmered like other grains and has a porridge-like texture. It can be combined with other grains if you desire a more "rice-like" dish. It can also be popped in a skillet like popcorn, which gives it a nutty flavor and crunchy texture.
The reason I didn't include amaranth as one of the featured World's Healthiest Foods is because it is not as widely available as the other grains that I did include. Yet, I think that it is a very valuable nutrient-rich food and I encourage you to enjoy it as part of your Healthiest Way of Eating.
Reference:
US Department of Agriculture. (2006). National Nutrient Database for Windows, Version 1.0 (SR 19). Nutrient Data Laboratory, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Beltsville, MD.