Scarlett’s Tuna Salad
Updated June 6, 2024
- Total Time
- 15 minutes, plus 1 hour for pickling onions
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- ½cup rice-wine vinegar
- 1tablespoon sugar
- 2teaspoons kosher salt
- 1red onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
- 3Persian cucumbers, peeled if skin is thick and waxy, sliced about ¼-inch thick
- 2spring onions, thinly sliced
- 2limes, juiced, about ¼ cup
- 5 to 7ounces olive-oil-packed tuna
- 1avocado, peeled and cubed
- ½teaspoon or more finishing salt, such as Maldon
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- Handful basil leaves, washed and torn
- Handful cilantro sprigs, washed and torn
- Handful fresh mint leaves, washed and torn
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
310 calories; 21 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 14 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 6 grams dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 15 grams protein; 651 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a clean glass jar with a tightfitting lid, mix vinegar, sugar and 1 teaspoon kosher salt with ½ cup hot water. Shake until sugar is dissolved. Bring a pot of water to the boil, and add the onions. Let it sit for just a few seconds in the hot water, then drain well and transfer onions to the jar with the vinegar. The pickled onions will be ready to use in an hour, or can be made ahead and kept in the fridge for up to a week.
- Step 2
In a large mixing bowl, dress the cucumber and spring onions with the remaining kosher salt and lime juice. It should be fairly wet. Pour into a deep serving plate or a wide bowl, along with any extra liquid at the bottom of the bowl.
- Step 3
Spoon tuna out of the oil, and use your hands to break it into bite-size pieces, directly into the now-empty mixing bowl. Add avocado, 3 tablespoons of pickled red onion and 1 tablespoon of pickling liquid from the jar, and mix gently with your hands to dress. Scatter over the cucumber mixture, and season with finishing salt and black pepper. Cover with torn herbs, and generously drizzle everything with olive oil. Eat right away, with spoons.
Private Notes
Comments
Red pickled onions will last for much longer than a week in your refrigerator- I basically keep a constant jar going- adding new red onions slices when I only need half an onion in a recipe. They are delicious on so many things- sandwiches, lox, cream cheese and bagels.
I've made similar salads with canned mackerel instead of tuna. Mackerel belong to the same family as tuna, with many of the same biological traits, including fat-burning red belly muscle that keeps its body temperature considerably higher than its environment. Apart from costing about half as much as tuna, it is also sustainable (and tastes pretty good, too).
Use a pint jar. After you put the onions in the jar, make up a second batch of brine, pour over the onions to cover, cool, put on the lid, and refrigerate until ready to use. A clove or two of peeled garlic pressed down into the jar of brined onions wouldn't hurt.
We all loved this salad. Some chopped celery leaves were tasty as part of the fresh herbs. We usually have pickled red onions in our fridge, and I'm always glad to have more ideas for using them! I'll be making (and riffing on) this salad regularly.
loved this! oil-packed tuna in a jar is so delish! I added arugula under everything. I made the lime juice and olive oil into a vinaigrette to drizzle over the top. wish I would have tasted the oil from the tuna. might have used it instead of the regular olive oil
update:this time I used the oil from the tuna, and it was great! also, this was good as a leftover, even the arugula underneath was fine.
Wonderfully delicious, easy, and fast. (Cheated and used store-bought pickled red onions.) Will be making this often through the summer.