Lately I’ve been doing a lot of talking about meal prep and making it easy to maintain healthy eating habits on a consistent basis. It never fails, however, that I get the question, “But Angela, what if there comes a weekend when I’m away and just can’t dedicate ANY time to doing ANY prep for the week?”
Obviously it’s a less than ideal situation, but one that I found myself in this past Saturday when I got home from Seattle. I landed late in the afternoon, and because I’m one of those types that always feels compelled to empty my suitcase and get laundry done ASAP (anyone else like that?), these was the first orders of business. By the time my sweaty workout clothes were in the washing machine, I just couldn’t bring myself to make a trip to the grocery store. There were a bunch of things that had to take priority before I flew out on Friday, so I wasn’t able to stock up on produce for the week ahead. I had what I needed for dinner on Sunday night, but outside of that, things were pretty minimal in the produce department.
So what’s a hungry, tired gal with healthy eating intentions to do? It was pretty minimal, but still made a big difference. Here’s what I DID get done:
- Defrosted 4 fish fillets and baked them in the oven
- Peeled and chopped 4 sweet potatoes, which I roasted alongside the fish
- Chopped a head of broccoli + leftover 1/2 head of cauliflower, then steamed them
- Made a Mexican-inspired tuna salad to pack for my work lunches.
… and that particular Mexican-Inspired Tuna Salad is the recipe I have for you this week!
It’s super quick to make, doesn’t require a whole bunch of ingredients (many are pantry items you probably already have), and if you wanted to riff on it, you totally could. No canned tuna? Try canned salmon instead. No black beans? Rinse a can of chickpeas. No jalapeño pepper? Add heat with cayenne, chili powder or taco seasoning.
This is a salad loaded with super fresh flavour, heaps of colour, and served on top of greens makes for an entree-sized lunch that’ll keep you feeling satisfied for the afternoon. Enjoy!
Mexican-Inspired Tuna Salad
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 0 mins
Ingredients (2 servings)
- 1/2 each red, orange and yellow bell pepper, seeded and finely diced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced
- 1 cup diced cherry tomatoes
- 1/3 cup cooked black beans
- 1 can flaked or chunk light tuna drained
- 2 tbsp minced or torn cilantro
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/3 avocado, pitted and diced
Instructions
Prepare all veggies as indicated above.
Whisk together the olive oil and lime juice
In a bowl combine the first 6 ingredients. Drizzle the lime vinaigrette over top and toss to coat.
Gently stir in the avocado and season to taste with sea salt and black pepper.
Let the salad sit for 5-10 minutes to allow for flavours to develop, then divide between 2 bowls and serve.
Optional: For a more hearty meal, serve the salad with cooked brown rice or wrap it up in tortillas.
Click here to print the recipe.
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So tell me… what are your go-to super quick meals that you make when you’re short on time? Any fun tuna salad recipes to share?