Wendy Ra­hamut

It is the Lenten sea­son and fish is the top or­der of the day. But with the as­tro­nom­i­cal price be­ing charged for fresh fish, al­ter­na­tives need to be found.

Frozen fish is one op­tion, but there is a lot to sac­ri­fice in taste and tex­ture. Canned fish, how­ev­er, is a vi­able al­ter­na­tive, es­pe­cial­ly tu­na. It is packed with nu­tri­ents; it is low in sat­u­rat­ed fat; and is a good source of Vi­t­a­min B6, omega 3, phos­pho­rous, pro­tein, niacin, vi­t­a­min B 12 and se­le­ni­um.

It is very con­ve­nient with us­es, which en­com­pass much more than tu­na sand­wich­es. You can buy it packed in oil, wa­ter and there is my favourite the Al­ba­core tu­na, which is a much firmer, dri­er and more de­li­cious type.

So the next time you want a fast, nu­tri­tious and de­li­cious meal try some tu­na to­day.

Caribbean tu­na and pas­tatossed with fresh herbs

4 cups penne pas­ta or any

short pas­ta, boiled and drained

4 tbs olive oil

6 cloves gar­lic

1/2 cup chopped chives

2 toma­toes, seed­ed and chopped

1 tin tu­na, drained

1 tsp grat­ed lemon zest

6 black olives, cut in­to sliv­ers

1 tbs ca­pers

2 tbs chopped basil

2 tbs chopped pars­ley

Parme­san cheese to gar­nish, op­tion­al

salt

Method

Heat oil in a fry­ing pan, add gar­lic and chives, cook un­til fra­grant.

Add toma­toes and stir, then add tu­na and com­bine.

Stir in lemon zest, add olives and ca­pers.

Sprin­kle on basil and pars­ley and re­move from heat.

Toss with pas­ta and gar­nish with Parme­san cheese, if de­sired.

�2 Serves 4

Zesty tu­na burg­ers

2 tins chunk tu­na in wa­ter, drained

2 cups soft bread crumbs

2 cups as­sort­ed fresh herbs, chives, pars­ley, cel­ery, chadon beni (cilantro), thyme

1/2 small red bell pep­per, seed­ed and fine­ly chopped

1 tsp pep­per sauce

2 tsp lime juice

1 egg, beat­en

salt and fresh­ly ground black pep­per to taste

veg­etable oil for pan fry­ing

Method

Com­bine all in­gre­di­ents ex­cept egg.

Add a small amount of egg just to bring the mix­ture to­geth­er.

Form the mix­ture in­to balls (you should get 4 to 6, de­pend­ing on the amount you use).

Now pat the balls in­to pat­ties.

Heat oil in a skil­let.

Pan-fry burg­ers un­til gold­en on both sides, about 3 to 4 min­utes.

Serve with sweet pota­to French fries.

�2 Serves 4 to 6

Tu­na and pota­to sal­ad with­le­mon vinai­grette

For the sal­ad:

1/4 lb fresh green beans, or long beans (bo­di)

1/2 lb pota­toes, boiled, peeled and cut in­to 1-inch cubes

1 small onion, thin­ly sliced, soaked in cold wa­ter

1 medi­um sweet red pep­per, seed­ed and cut in­to strips 1/4-inch wide

2 small ripe toma­toes, cored and cut in­to 1-inch cubes

1 can sol­id white Al­ba­core tu­na in wa­ter, drained

1 medi­um-sized head let­tuce, washed and dried

1 large egg, hard-boiled and cut in­to wedges

1 tbs chopped fresh chives

1 tbs chopped fresh pars­ley

For the dress­ing:

2 tbs fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp fresh­ly ground black pep­per

1 large clove gar­lic, minced

1/2 tsp Di­jon mus­tard

1/3 cup olive oil

Method

Cut beans in­to 1-inch pieces and steam un­til ten­der crisp, about 6 min­utes. Drain.

In a large bowl com­bine green beans, pota­toes, onions, sweet pep­per, toma­toes, and tu­na. Toss gen­tly to mix.

In a small bowl mix lemon juice, salt, pep­per, gar­lic and mus­tard, whisk un­til well com­bined. Pour the olive oil in­to this mix­ture, whisk­ing con­tin­u­ous­ly un­til mix­ture be­comes thick.

Pour dress­ing over tu­na and pota­to mix­ture and toss un­til well com­bined. You may add as much or as lit­tle dress­ing as you please.

Arrange let­tuce on a large plat­ter and spoon pota­to tu­na mix­ture over top.

Sprin­kle chopped herbs over top of sal­ad, arrange wedges of cooked egg around sal­ad and serve.

�2 Serves 4