Recipe: Beth Lipton's Tuna Salad Manifesto

Health coach and food writer Beth Lipton had us try out some delicious homemade healthy snacks during our Fitness, Function, and Food event this past weekend.

​Want to "spring-clean" your eating habits this spring? Read on for a great Tuna Salad recipe, and some ideas for energy bite snacks.

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Beth’s tuna salad manifesto:
Beth's approach to tuna salad is more of a strategy than a recipe. The idea is to get as big a volume of vegetables into the bowl as possible, but have it still taste like tuna salad.

Ingredients & instructions:

* Up to 2 cups chopped vegetables. Carrots, celery (leaves included), fennel, radishes, jicama, cucumber, bell peppers—anything you like. Stick to one or two types of vegetables or throw a bunch in there, it’s up to you. Chop the vegetables small and fairly uniformly, like ¼-inch dice.
* Something creamy. You need something to hold it all together. I start with ½ of an avocado, mashed right in there. If it’s a little dry, add more, or stir in a spoonful of avocado-oil mayo or extra-virgin olive oil.
* Tuna (obv!). You want the lowest mercury tuna you can get. Skipjack is the best, and pole-caught is the most sustainable. Trader Joe’s has it, or look for the Wild Planet brand.
* Flavorings. Salt and pepper are a must. Beyond that, if you taste your salad and it needs something, try lemon juice, raw cider vinegar, chili powder or celery salt.

Notes:
* By the time you have all this stuff in your bowl, you’ll find you don’t really need bread. But if you really miss it, have a slice or a few crackers (Beth loves Simple Mills gluten-free crackers, made with almond flour). Or enjoy the salad over greens.
* Don’t like tuna? Not a problem. This salad works with smoked salmon, too. Get a dry salmon, not mushy like lox, and flake it into the bowl with the vegetables. Or make it with a couple of chopped hard-boiled eggs. Vegan? Soak some sunflower seeds in water for a few hours, drain and pulse in the food processor, then follow the rest of the recipe.

Want some out-of-this-world small, easy to make snacks?  Beth made of some of her recipes from her Health Magazine post, check it out here: http://news.health.com/2015/05/05/how-and-why-to-make-energy-bites/

Recipes by Beth Lipton

Want more from Beth? Visit StriveNourishPlay.com or follow her on Instagram: @Cookiepie0402

Beth Lipton is a health coach, recipe developer and food writer. She's the food director at Health magazine and has authored 2 cookbooks (Peaches by Short Stack Editions and You Made That Dessert?). She graduated from the chef's training program at Natural Gourmet Institute and from the health coach training program at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. As a coach, she works with clients one-on-one and in groups to help them create personalized strategies so they can reach and exceed their wellness goals. She has run 4 marathons and loves doing anything active, including weights, barre classes and spinning.  She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter.