Jun 27, 2014

Friday Foodie Affair: Tuna Times Two



For some crazy reason I’m on a tuna kick so I hunted down a couple recipes to try, Tuna Pasta Salad and Tuna Quesadilla. I, of course, tweaked both recipes to suit my bland food loving taste buds :-P



Tuna Pasta Salad


Ingredients:

8 ounces dry whole-grain elbow pasta (Barilla Plus recommended)
1 cup frozen green peas
5 ounces canned tuna, packed in water
½ cup chopped broccoli
¼ cup balsamic vinaigrette

Directions

Combine pasta and peas in a large bowl with tuna, celery and balsamic vinaigrette. Season with ¼ teaspoon kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste; mix well to combine. Serve slightly chilled or at room temperature. Enjoy this salad as is or pile it over mixed greens.

Note: the original recipe has nutritional information if you’re curious.

My version of this was WAY different because…well I wasn’t really following the recipe. I accidentally used a whole box of pasta instead of half so my proportions were all wrong. I also forgot to buy peas so I used kidney beans instead. Oh, and I substituted vinaigrette for fat free Italian dressing. Like I said WAY different, haha. But the important thing is that it was very tasty even with the differences. This was also my favorite of the two recipes in this post.

My Ingredients:

1 box whole-grain elbow pasta (Barilla Plus)
Kidney Beans
3 cans tuna in water
¼ cup fat free Italian dressing
Reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese






Tuna Quesadilla


Ingredients:

2 small (3-ounce) cans tuna, drained and flaked
½ cup salsa, drained
½ cup chopped fresh scallions
1 cup shredded cheddar
3 (12 inch) flour tortillas

Directions:

Mix tuna with salsa and scallions. Fold in cheddar. Divide mixture into 1/3’s and spread each portion over ½ of a tortilla and fold into a half circle. Brown each of the 3 quesadillas on both sides in a hot pan to melt cheese. Cool a bit, cut into wedges and serve.

My Version was pretty much the same as the original except I left out the scallions and salsa. It actually ended up tasting a little too plain, even for me. I’ll have to come up with something else to add to it the next time. I also need to work on my quesadilla browning skills a bit…or I should just pay closer attention :-P





6 comments:

  1. Hmm well they both do sound good, especially the salad. I'm not too sure about the tuna mixed with salsa.

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  2. I know, I like the two this separate but together....I'm not convinced. Maybe next time I'll dip it in salsa. That's a decent compromise right?! Lol

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  3. I don't like tuna mixed in with things - even though I love tuna. Weird right?? lol

    That pasta salad looks super easy though. I think I'll try it - just without the tuna.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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    1. Go for it! Honestly the first time I had it I couldn’t even taste the tuna because my proportions were all wrong. It was still really good : )

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  4. The dreaded Tuna - hiss hiss book *scared and runs away from the smell*

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    1. Lmao, my husband would agree with your reaction. He hates the stuff and I always have to have it when he'll be at work.

      Although it was damn funny (and a but mean of me :)), I had a bowl of the pasta in the fridge and hubby saw it when he got home from work. He got excited thinking I made Mac n cheese. I may have let him open it without warning him. Hehehehe. Evil Jen.

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