Tuna Avocado Boats

The following recipe is a perfect example of how to use avocados in a different and original way. Using the avocados as the serving dish makes for such an original presentation. It’s similar to what we did with the guacamole with radish and oranges.

The fact that this recipe is eaten directly from the avocado makes it look so much more sophisticated than it really is; especially when considering how quick and simple it is to prepare.

I’ve also made a variation using apples instead of avocado, which was just as delicious. It was a bit harder to prepare with an apple, but what you can do is cut out most of the apple flesh, combine it with the tuna salad and then place the mixture back in the apple cavity afterwards.

Many tuna salad recipes out there call for canned tuna. It’s the quicker and cheaper option, but I’ve always preferred the taste of a real piece of fresh tuna that I cook myself. Of course, whether you choose to go with fresh or canned tuna, it’s important to go with high-quality, wild-caught tuna. Also, when choosing canned tuna, look for a brand that comes packed with salt and olive oil or water only. As with other seafood, mercury is always something to keep in mind, but it’s not always as bad as most people make it out to be for a few reasons. One of them is that most fish, tuna included, are really high in selenium, which is a mineral that binds to mercury and protects us from its dangers.

For this recipe, if you can’t find good quality tuna, you can always go with salmon, which is just as good of an option.

Avocados can sometimes be tricky to deal with. If you’re planning on eating them right away, choose them when they’re really dark, almost black but not overly soft. If the avocado is really green and hard, it can take about 2 or 3 days before it ripens to the right level. A ripe avocado should yield to a gentle pressure and the flesh should be a nice green and easily scooped out with a spoon. The best option for this recipe is to get ripe avocados that are almost black in color and that are soft to the touch. It’s also best to prepare these right before eating because avocado flesh that’s exposed to the air quickly takes on a brown color, somewhat like apples do. One solution that that issue is to rub some lemon juice over the avocado flesh.

This is a tuna salad recipe that you can always change up by adding different ingredients like tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers or apples. You’re really free to let your creativity lead you. It’s also a dish that’s high in many important micronutrients, thanks to the avocados that are full of potassium, vitamin E and soluble fiber.

Tuna Avocado Boats Recipe

SERVES: 4 PREP: 10 min. COOK: 20 min.

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Ingredients

• 1 pound tuna steak or canned Tuna (in water);
• 2 ripe avocados;
• The juice of half a lemon;
• 2 big green onions, minced (keep some of the green part aside);
• 1 garlic clove, minced;
• 1 tbsp ground paprika;
• About 1/2 cup of extra-virgin olive oil or 1 cup of Paleo mayonnaise;
• 2 tbsp Paleo cooking fat.
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Preparation

1. In a skillet placed over a medium-high heat, preheat the cooking fat until very hot, but not so much that it burns.
2. Add the tuna steak to the skillet and cook each side 4 to 5 minutes, until the fish breaks apart easily with a fork.
3. Once the tuna is cooked, let it rest for about 10 minutes.
4. In a bowl, combine the tuna, the garlic, the lemon juice, the green onions, and the olive oil or mayonnaise, then season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Make sure to keep some of the green part of the green onions aside. Using a fork, make sure to combine everything well and to break appart the tuna.
5. Take the two avocados and cut them lengthwise around the pit. Twist the two halves to open. Remove the pit with a spoon, gently making sure not to break the avocado itself.
6. Place a big scoop of the tuna mixture into each cavity of the avocados. Sprinkle the top of each avocado boat with some paprika, then add some green onions on top and serve.