Friday, December 9, 2011

Healthy Canned Tuna Recipe

Canned tuna is a staple of the bodybuilder or high-protein dieter. Or, at least, it should be. Tuna is convenient and an excellent source of lean protein. A single can of tuna has about 41g of protein and only 5g of fat and no carbohydrates.

To put this in perspective, active men need somewhere around .45g of protein per pound of body weight. This means that a 180 pound man should have about 80g of protein daily. So a single can of tuna can give you over half of your daily protein intake.(The recommended protein intake for women varies wildly from source to source but the FDA recommends around 40g per day for the average women. Fitsugar has this handy chart.)

But canned tuna can be extraordinarily bland. And since it is a fantastic post-workout meal, many times people eat it plain, out of the can. Which is sad.

So the following is my solution for a delicious, easy tuna meal. Feel free to adjust the sauces and seasonings to taste.
Tuna Cabbage Rolls
Ingredients
  • Head of cabbage
  • 2 cans of tuna
  • Cup of rice
  • 2 tbsp of soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
  • Garlic powder, to taste
  • Ground ginger, to taste
  • Cilantro, to taste
Set the rice boiling. Standard jasmine rice works but sweet rice is better. You can make your jasmine rice a little sweeter and stickier by soaking it for about 30 minutes in cold water and then scrubbing it. Boil it in the glutenous water. Boil the rice for 20 minutes or until the rice is soft and the water has steamed out.

While the rice is boiling, peel off the largest cabbage leaves. You may need to cut out the thickest part of the stems because you need the leaves to be flexible.

The rice should still be boiling so you have time to jazz up that tuna. Empty the tuna into a bowl and add the soy, teriyaki, garlic, cilantro and ginger. Mix it thoroughly.

Once the rice is done, scoop some into a cabbage leaf, toss on some tuna and enjoy. Alternatively, since the procedure of making the rolls might be too time consuming, you can put the rice and tuna in a bowl. Shred the cabbage on top.

This little meal is high in protein and fiber so it should fill you up pretty thoroughly and give you what you need for a full muscle recovery.

There are many things you can do with a humble can of tuna, but this is one of my favorites.