I love tuna salad but we do not eat a whole lot of canned tuna, hoping to avoid exposing my family to loads of unnecessary mercury. A great substitute for canned tuna is of course wild caught canned salmon – but I still love tuna salad…. So I did a little research and guess what – good ol’ Trader Joe’s carries canned tuna that happens to be at the very BOTTOM of the list of mercury found in tuna. So today I stuffed some avocados with a yummy paleo tuna salad for a change from our usual canned salmon.
Stuffed Avocados
3 -4 ripe avocados
4 cans of Trader Joe’s tuna packed in water
3 green onions
3 celery stalks
1 palm full of dried dill
1 tbsp garlic powder
fresh ground black pepper to taste
grape tomatoes halved
about 1 cup of Olive Oil Mayo– 1egg, 1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar, pinch of sea salt, few shakes of cayenne pepper, 1 tsp yellow mustard, 1 cup olive oil
Cut avocados in half lengthwise and remove the stone – leave the peel on. In a large mixing bowl mix together the tuna, celery, onions, and spices. In a food processor process for 5 seconds the egg, vinegar, mustard, cayenne pepper, and sea salt. For another 5 seconds of blending slowly add the olive oil until it makes mayo.
Add the mayo mixture to the tuna, mix well, and scoop onto halved avocados and top with tomatoes.
MMMM..That looks great something I got to try 😀
That looks so tasty,and easy!!! Thanks!
Thanks for the idea. I have a bunch of avocados and I was looking for something different to do with them. Add a bit of lemon to them and I can take this tasty treat to work for lunch.
Again Much Thanks.
This looks seriously good! I love avocado but never think of stuffing them with something.
Cross your fingers, I’m making my first meatballs using almond flour. I’m not sure if I used enough or not. Finally cleaned the last holdouts out of the cabinet. I dumped in a lot of garlic powder and parmesan cheese, and an egg so hopefully they won’t totally fall apart.
TrailGrrl
Hey TrailGrrl! My fingers are crossed, let me know how the meatballs turn out, I bet there great… : )
Actually they were great! I didh’t mention to hubby that they were different and he ate them right up. A few were a little iffy about holding together while browining but I think I used about 2 pounds of ground beef from the local farmers but only a little almond meal. I am eating leftovers right now for lunch and they taste really good. Not falling apart either. I don’t know why using almond meal was such a stumbling block. I previously always used oats but I finally threw all of that out, mostly because that was all I ever used it for except at Christmas for oatmeal cookies (since I haven’t had oatmeal or cereal in about 3-4 years), which I didn’t even make this year because the molasses crinkles and regular chocolate chunk are the favorites.
Stopped at Trader Joe’s today after reading some of your recipes (got the salsa verde). I was pleasantly surprised. Before when I’d been to TJ’s I was underwhelmed except for them having a good selection of dark chocolate like Valrhona, and I had trouble concentrating since it is sort of like a TJ Max for food. I think I was more patient this time because I didn’t need to look up and down every single aisle. I got the pre-cooked uncured bacon idea from you. Also bought a whole free-range organic chicken and uncured center-cut and applewood smoked bacon, and some of their chicken sausages to try, and some nitrite free beef hotdogs. Every now and then I get the urge for one on the grill. I was pleasantly surprised by their prices. The center-cut nitrite free bacon was cheaper than any center-cut bacon at Kroger (e.g., Oscar Meyer, etc.). I usually buy all of my meat at the farmers’ market from organic and local producers that I know, but the regular season doesn’t start until end of May, and the last winter market was last weekend when I was out of town. Sometimes the bacon is a little saltier than normal from the local farmers, probably because it isn’t mass produced.
Thanks for the tips. Going to try the roast chicken with just sea salt recipe next.
TrailGrrl
Awesome TrailGrrl – thanks for the update and I’m glad you had better luck at Trader Joe’s this time! : )
These look delicious.
Can’t wait to make this so I could sink my teeth in to those avocado pieces topped w/ tuna.
Another winner!
Keep it up!
I added this to DailyBurn … and honestly… it is really fatty and high in calories! I would suggest skipping the Mayo entirely for a lighter version. 🙂 Good tuna with a little dill and pepper is still wonderful.
http://dailyburn.com/recipes/paleo_stuffed_avocados
My husband made these today for lunch, but instead of the dill he used a teaspoon of curry powder for a different taste. They were awesome!
Yummy, I LOVE anything with curry powder, I will try this for sure, thanks for the idea Shannan!
@jimrising – I think you have your calculations slightly off. 1/2 avocado is only about 113 calories and 10 g of fat.
Sarah – this recipe looks great and i’m taking it for lunch tomorrow! Can’t wait to give it a try.
Is there another brand i can buy other than Trader Joe’s. I live in Miami and I can’t seem to find it ANYWHERE??
Hi Janessa,
I’m not sure about another brand from a typical grocery store but I did a quick google search and it’s possible to order low mercury wild caught canned tuna on line. Here is one site in particular that I found http://www.wildplanetfoods.com/store/products Also, I would recommend substituting for canned wild caught salmon. I buy mine sometimes from Costco. I hope that helps! : )
Hi Sarah, first of all thanks for all the greats tips and recipes. I am new to paleo and new in the kitchen, but you have made it so simple that i actually enjoy cooking now. I have the winter soup in the crock pot over night, yumm… cant wait to taste some.
I have a question about the mayo and it might be a stupid one…. thats 1 egg, is it hard boiled or raw?
Hi Kristi! It’s raw – the vinegar “cooks” it during the blending process. : )
Hi Sarah,
How long does the mayo keep in the refrigerator? Thanks,
Hi Lillian,
Mayo usually keeps a couple of weeks.
I made this for dinner post-workout for myself(single gal here!). Doing an 8 week paleo challenge in my boot camp. I need yummy food. 🙂 Instead of mayo, I used just a little of olive oil to hold together and an individual packet of albacore tuna was just the right amount. I think this would also be great on cucumbers for an appetizer. Thanks for all the recipes, I should be good to go for next 8 weeks!
I tried making Paleo mayo this weekend but it is all runny. How long does it need to blend? I do not have a food processor so can I still use the blender?
1 large yolk will absorb ~.5cup oil
Julia Child has the classic easy mayo recipe. Warm the bowl.
3 yolks. Beat yolks til sticky.
Add 3-5TB vinegar or lemon juice and 1/4tsp dry mustard. Pinch of salt (optional)
1.5 – 2cups of oil added slowly to the yolks – drop by drop at first – DO NOT STOP BEATING
The sauce will thicken after half the oil has been incorporated
Beat in 2TB boiling water as an anti-curdle. Season with lemon, vinegar or spices to taste.
I tried making the mayo without a food processor as I don’t own one, but it comes out thin and watery, and just tastes like olive oil with mustard. I’m guessing this isn’t correct? Any suggestions?
Oh my goodness gracious! I just made these tonight, and although I didn’t try it with the avocado yet (I was packing a lunch for my husband for tomorrow) I had a few bites of the tuna and it was heavenly. I can’t wait to have some for lunch tomorrow!
I also wanted to add, I am just starting out on the paleo way of eating and my husband has been fairly on board but not as into it as me. He hasn’t done all the reading I have and hasn’t felt how awesome it feels (yet!) He has loved everything I have made from your website. So glad I found it!!! I really think it will make this change much more pleasant for the family (I also have a two year old). It is obvious how much care and effort you put into all of this for your family and I am so happy you are sharing your awesome skills with the rest of us 😀
Thank you so much Aimee!!
Love, love these! Used some leftover mayo and walnut pesto combined to make chicken salad lettuce wraps that were amazing! I looooved mayo and this is a great Paleo substitute. Thanks 🙂
Yum Kristen, love the idea of combining the pesto and the mayo!!! Thank you!!
thanks for the mayo receipe Dain! I divided it by three (1 yolk) and it turned out great!
cheers!
Just made your tuna salad…Gosh is it delicious! Though I’m hardly shocked… Thanks for another great recipe!
I blogged about avocados recently and had no idea that they were effectively a “super-food”. I think for extra health benefits, you really need to make sure your avocados are grassfed!
Um, what exactly is a grass-fed avocado??
My friend and I made these from your book the other day. She started freaking out when she realized the egg was not going to get cooked. Whats the justification for that to avoid the danger of food poisoning from the raw egg?
Thanks!
Jimmy
I made this for lunch today, when I realized I didn’t have a good protein available, but had tuna in the cupboard. though I can’t have mayo right now so I used a bit of olive oil and I mashed the avocado into the tuna mix and ate it as lettuce wraps.
this was amazing Thanks for the meal..
So glad you enjoyed it!
These are amazing. I’m on day four and I love love love the food. I’m a huge fan of tuna but before this recipe my tuna consisted of tuna, garlic, onion, relish, eggs, celery, mayo, salt&pepper, and a little mustard. Now this recipe is light and tasty and then you add my other favorite avocado it’s just yummy goodness!!! Thank you!!
Awesome Dee, so glad you are enjoying the food!!!
DELICIOUS! I made this for dinner so for a little extra dinnery-feel I put the tuna salad in a baking dish and broiled it until it was golden on top. My avocados were cold straight out of the fridge, and with the warm tuan salad it was so yummy. I’ve made it again with chicken already! (Although we liked the tuna better.)
Great idea to warm it up! Thank you!