Tag: English cucumber

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Main Dish

Avocado tuna salad pits spouses against each other

Avocado tuna salad is packed with yummy vegetables, along with the creamy addition of Greek yogurt and ripe avocado.
Avocado tuna salad is packed with yummy vegetables, along with the creamy addition of Greek yogurt and ripe avocado.

Joey and I love to prepare meals together. He’s a great cook in his own right, so we take turns with one of us cooking while the other helps with prep work.

Well, that’s most of the time.

For this week’s recipe, I was all on my own. As soon as Joey heard the words “tuna salad,” he was out.

I tried to explain to him that it was mayonnaise free, since he has a very vocal dislike of the condiment, but he said just the idea that tuna salad is normally laden with tons of mayo meant he was going to make himself a nice turkey sandwich for lunch instead.

Oh, well. More for me.

I kind of went rogue on this recipe, but it was inspired by a recipe from Carrie Walder at her blog, “Walder Wellness.” I took her base and subtracted a little and added a little to land on my version. You can find the original post at https://www.walderwellness.com/no-mayo-high-protein-tuna-salad.

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Avocado Tuna Salad

Avocado tuna salad is packed with yummy vegetables, along with the creamy addition of Greek yogurt and ripe avocado.
Course Main Course
Keyword avocado, English cucumber, garlic powder, Greek yogurt, green bell pepper, tuna, tuna salad

Ingredients

  • 5 ounces tuna packed in water
  • 1 medium-sized avocado
  • 5.3 ounces plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup English cucumber diced
  • 1/2 cup green bell pepper diced
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Drain the tuna extremely well.
  • In a bowl, mash the avocado with a fork, and then add all of the ingredients. Stir well and then taste to see if there’s anything else you need to add.
  • Serve immediately on bread or as a wrap with additional vegetables as desired (I did mine with fresh spinach and a few more slices of cucumber). Refrigerate any leftovers.

I really, really liked this. I like regular tuna salad, too, but this had a little bit of a tang from the yogurt and tons of fresh flavor from the cucumbers and green peppers.

The only drawback was when I went to eat the leftovers. Because the cucumbers and green peppers have so much water in them, there was quite a bit of liquid in the bottom of my container the day after I made this. I drained it off and still had a great wrap, but I think it was much more delicious when it was first made.

This would also be very easy to customize, depending on your favorite veggies and maybe what’s growing in your summer garden over the next few months. This is already pretty full of protein, but you could add eggs, too, if you wanted a bit more.

I probably won’t ever give up traditional tuna salad, and Joey will still have to deal with having a jar of mayonnaise in the refrigerator for the rest of our marriage, but using an avocado and Greek yogurt instead was a nice change of pace. Plus, it was kind of nice that I didn’t have to share.

This piece first appeared in print on May 5, 2022.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Main Dish Salad Side Dish

Customizable pasta dish is worth every ‘penne’

Greek pasta salad is extremely customizable for all kinds of diets and preferences, with lots of fresh vegetables and a light, flavorful dressing.
Greek pasta salad is extremely customizable for all kinds of diets and preferences, with lots of fresh vegetables and a light, flavorful dressing.

I’ve written before that I have some random, mostly mild food allergies that make certain recipes difficult for me.

Specifically, tomatoes cause me trouble, and I have to limit how often I include them in my diet, no matter how much I love them.

Because of that, I’m sympathetic to readers who sometimes email me and ask if I’d be willing to throw something gluten free or dairy free into the paper so they can try a new recipe, too. I definitely sympathize with people who have much more serious food intolerances than I do; it’s tough to keep food interesting.

With that said, the recipe I included this week can easily be made gluten free, dairy free and vegan, if you so desire. You’ll only need to do a few quick swaps or deletions to make it happen, and it’s all ingredients that you can easily find in your local grocery store.

This comes from the blog “Strength and Sunshine” by Rebecca Pytell. You can find the original post at https://strengthandsunshine.com/gluten-free-greek-pasta-salad-vegan/. I changed up the ingredients and proportions a bit and added extra garlic, too.

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Greek Pasta Salad

Greek pasta salad is extremely customizable for all kinds of diets and preferences, with lots of fresh vegetables and a light, flavorful dressing.
Course Salad
Keyword black olives, English cucumber, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, gluten-free, green bell pepper, Kalamata olives, mozzarella, oregano, penne pasta, red bell pepper, red onion, red wine vinegar, vegan, vegetarian

Ingredients

  • 16 ounces penne pasta
  • 1 English cucumber cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 green bell pepper chopped
  • 1 red bell pepper chopped
  • 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
  • 6 ounces black or Kalamata olives halved
  • 16 ounces mozzarella cheese cubed
  • 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons oregano
  • 4 cloves garlic minced
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Prepare all of the vegetables and cheese and add to a very large serving bowl.
  • While you prepare the veggies, boil the pasta according to package directions. Drain it and run cold water over the pasta.
  • Add the cold, drained pasta to the bowl and stir to combine the ingredients.
  • In a small bowl, whisk the olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, oregano, garlic and salt and pepper with a fork, and then pour it over top of the pasta mixture.
  • Toss to evenly coat all of the ingredients with the oil mixture, cover, and let the salad marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
  • Serve cold or at room temperature, and store any leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

If you go to the original recipe author for this, you’ll notice that I left a pint of tomatoes out of my version (for obvious reasons). I also decided to use whole grain pasta in mine, which made me feel like it was a bit healthier, too.

This was a great lunch, and it makes a ton of food. I’ve been eating on this salad all week long for lunch, and it’s been fabulous. It is lightly dressed and has lots of different flavors with all the vegetables.

I also hope it fits the bill for something new for those of you who have some food intolerances. With the weather warming up, a good pasta salad is a great recipe to have on hand, and nobody should have to miss out on a good lunch.

This piece first appeared in print on April 14, 2022.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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