Easy Healthy Tuna Casserole

Easy Healthy Tuna Casserole

  • Servings: 8
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Tuna casserole is a staple in many households. Recipes vary using Campbell’s condensed soups to heavy creams and cheeses. This one has a couple of twists that really help make it healthy. Hope you enjoy it.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp of olive oil
  • 170 g of chopped mushrooms
  • 1 white onion chopped
  • 1 green pepper chopped (or any bell pepper)
  • 2 tbsp of minced garlic
  • 1/2 tsp of black pepper
  • 1/4 tsp of salt
  • 1 tsp thyme
  • 1/4 tsp of cayenne
  • 267 g frozen peas (thawed)
  • 10 ounces of dry pasta of choice
  • 226 g of greek yogourt
  • 3 cans of tuna (in water) do not drain it
  • 8 tbsp of parmesan cheese
  • 1 cup of cheddar cheese
  • 8 ounces of bone broth
  • 4 ounces of milk
  • 1 serving of bread crumb
  • 2 avocados mashed

Directions

  1. Add oil to a large saute pan on medium-high heat.
  2. Add mushrooms, onions, garlic and bell pepper.
  3. Add in salt, pepper, cayenne and thyme. Mix well and let cook for a couple of minutes.
  4. Add the peas and let cook for another couple of minutes.
  5. Prepare your pasta. Cook it a couple of minutes less than what the box suggests (very al dente)
  6. In a large bowl add your pasta, vegetable mix, yogourt, tuna (with it’s water), 6 tbsp of the parmesan cheese, cheddar cheese, avocado, bone broth and milk.
  7. Mix everything together until well incorporated.
  8. Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish.
  9. Top with remaining parmesan cheese and bread crumbs.
  10. Cover with foil and put into preheated oven at 375 for 35 to 40 minutes.
  11. Remove foil and put it on broil for 3 to 5 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Nutritional facts

  • Calories 430
  • Fat 11.7 g
  • Sugar 6 g
  • Carbohydrates 39.25 g
  • Protein 29.25 g
  • Fibre 8.85 g

Ok so what makes this healthy? This meal is a great source of protein, between the tuna, greek yogourt, bone broth, there is enough for the average meal. Avocado is known to help with cholesterol and fiber. Bone broth is a natural broth that is high protein per serving. Now if you don’t have bone broth you can still use low sodium fat free chicken or vegetable broth. It will only reduce your protein by 1 g.

You want to make a change, go with cooked shredded chicken and add a half cup of milk. You can make this ahead of time and just reheat. This is what I call comfort food. Serve this up with a nice salad or veggie on the side and you have a complete meal. Also it’s relatively inexpensive to make.

Change it up, change the spices, vary your noodles, but most of all, have fun and make it your own.

Protein Rice Salad

Protein Rice Salad

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: Easy
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Who says salad needs to be boring? Not me. I used to say that a salad was a side not a meal, now I know better. Here is a version that I have done. It’s a great summer meal.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of spinach
  • 1 cup shredded carrot (I use the carrot peeler to get thin strips instead of shredded)
  • 1/2 cup of cooked white rice (brown rice would be better)
  • 1 can of tuna
  • 2 large hard boiled eggs
  • 1 large red bell pepper cut into thin strips
  • 2 tbsp of chopped green onion
  • 2 ounces of cheddar cheese cubed
  • 2 tbsp of apricot jam or jelly
  • 1 jalapeño (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  1. Assembly is easy. Divide everything in two. Put spinach at bottom of large bowl.
  2. Cover with rice.
  3. Spread the carrot around the bowl.
  4. Spread the red pepper, green onion, and jalapeño if used.
  5. Put the sliced egg, the ball of tuna and cubed cheese dividing the plate into thirds.
  6. Add salt and pepper if desired.
  7. In the centre put the apricot jam or jelly.

Nutrition Per Serving

  • Calories 436
  • Fat 17.8 g
  • Sugar 11.9 g
  • Carbohydrates 38.9 g
  • Protein 32.4 g
  • Fiber 2.8 g

This salad is fun. It reminds me of summer. The ingredients are what I had on hand. I wanted to make sure that it was high in protein as I was having this after having done a workout on the treadmill. You don’t like cheddar but prefer mozzarella, use that. You want it spicy add that jalapeno. You have left over cooked chicken, use that instead of tuna. You don’t have cooked rice, you can cook some spaghettini or rice noodles. The possibilities are endless. Remember have fun and make it your own.