I’m sure like most paleo people you have your ‘Emergency Tin of Tuna’ in your cupboard; that’s all well and good but I’m personally getting tired of tuna that looks like cat food and sucks all the moisture out of your mouth and is nothing special to taste. There is hope however, White Albacore tuna! It makes John West tuna look like cat food (more so than usual) and tastes so much better. You can buy it at most supermarkets and generally it comes in olive oil in either a jar or a ring pull tin. I had some left over and wanted to make a nice fresh salad in minutes; this recipe is so quick, it’s perfect if you’re on shift and you’re in a hurry. I had some left over artichokes in a jar (all paleo, I checked the back) and thought I’d just add it to the mix to add a bit more vegetable matter to it. It’s always surprising what you can make with left overs and half filled jars of things.

Asian Albacore Salad with Artichokes

Preparation to Plate: 4 Minutes

Consume after making

Ingredients:

1 Medium Carrot

1 Medium Zucchini/Courgette

Half Jar of White Albacore Tuna

Half Jar of Artichoke Hearts (check the ingredients to ensure full paleo)

1-2 tsp Sesame Oil

Recipe:

Boil some water in a kettle. While that is boiling turn the medium carrot and zucchini into ‘noodles’ (see Zucchini Noodles for how to do this) but keep the zucchini in a separate bowl. Once you get down to the cores of each vegetable, I personally keep the zucchini core for later and just eat the raw carrot core but feel free to do as you wish with these respectively.

Once the water is boiled, add this to the zucchini to blanch them for about 20-30 seconds. Drain the zucchini, place them onto some kitchen paper and dab dry then add to the carrot. Drain the tuna and add them to the carrot and zucchini, do the same for the artichokes (or have them on the side as I did). Drizzle over some sesame oil (about 1-2 tsp) and mix all together.

This is a really quick and fresh salad which is great for lunch on the go or as a summery evening meal. I’d recommend eating this straight after or very soon after you make it.

For Shift Workers (Asian Albacore Alfresco): If this is one of your shift work meals however I’d avoid blanching the zucchini and take the sesame oil separately with you. You can quickly knock this up on the side of the road with some boiling water and two plastic cups. Simply add the zucchini to one cup and pour over boiling water, wait 30 seconds then use the second cup to help drain off the water. Add to the carrot and tuna followed by the sesame oil, and serve. For those of you who work in a hospital and/or readily have access to hot water you’re lucky, us paramedics have to take whatever we can with us as we may not be near hot water for a while.