I as many others don’t eat enough fish so I try to get a can of tuna in my system every other day. But it really kills me how dry and boring it tastes.

Anyoke got a good way to make it taste good? As low calorie as possible but I am willing to forfeit a bit of my dinner if I necessary.

  • yumcake@lemmy.one
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    10 months ago

    Cheatcode for flavor is chicken bouillon. Powdered chicken stock has almost no calories but packs a ton of non-specific savory flavor (umami) that you can put into any savory dish. If you feel like a dish is bland, you salt it and it still feels not salty, try adding chicken bouillon and the flavor pops out. It’s why Australians go mad about their “Chicken salt” which is mainly bouillon and salt. (If it still taste bland after this point, you probably need some form of acid like a vinegar in the dish.)

    Tuna itself is pretty generic in flavor so just go ham with spices and seasoning. I like to mix my tuna into scrambled eggs (1 whole egg + 200g of egg white), mix it with gochuchang red pepper paste for big flavor, mild heat, and slight sweetness. You can also use Laughing Cow cheese wedges for about 45cal. Mix that into the pepper paste with a little bit of water to turn it into a creamy consistency. You can use the cheese wedge trick or cornstarch slurries to make creamy sauces/gravies for whatever dish you want with minimal calorie cost.

    There’s a lot of exercise programming you can do to optimize your fitness, but when we know diet is like 90% of the aesthetic outcome, leveling up cooking skill is probably much more important for creating tasty lean food you have no problem adhering to.

    • Merwyn@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      Careful with powdered chicken stock (or any stock) from supermarket brand. They may have nearly no calorie but a lot of fat, salt and other generally un healthy stuff.

      Making chicken stock yourself take time but you can make big batches and use it through the week.

  • quick7silver@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I make pasta with red onions and tuna. Just cut up the onion in medium chunks, fry it up in a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil, add the canned tuna in it. When pasta is ready mix it all together and add some extra oil on top. Add chilli flakes if you’d like some spice. It’s not really low calories unfortunately…

    In general, I have to say that it does matter which canned tuna you buy. I only buy a very specific brand and only the one that comes in olive oil. Anything else is cardboard to me, so I feel you.

      • quick7silver@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Good luck! Not sure which country you’re in but see if you can find Rio Mare as a brand. That’s the one I like (partly because I grew up with it), Mediterranean and Eastern European delis tend to have it I think.

  • toiletwhole@feddit.de
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    10 months ago

    A Little olive oil, some herpes or spices…some vegetables…Well I described a salat :D

    You can mix the tuna with some low fat creme cheese or some low fat Greek yoghurt (watch for added sugar)

  • ShaggySnacks@lemmy.myserv.one
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    10 months ago

    Seasoning is your friend.

    You can try some curry powder, crushed red chili flakes, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, etc.

    Throw in some olive oil to help with the dryness. Homemade mayo is extremely simple to make at home, eggs, oil, and some type vinegar.

    If you want some fresh ingredients: onions, garlic, ginger, green onions, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers.

    I generally don’t follow a recipe, I just throw in whatever I feel like at the time.

  • Mamertine@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    The pouches of flavored tuna are decent. I put them in a salad. It’s not cravable, but it is totally edible.

    IMO lemon pepper is the best.