Please help me with some recipes for canned fish…tuna, salmon etc.
I need to eat more fish (up from virtually none), I don’t really like tuna salad and I really want to keep it lower in calorie. So no canned salmon in heavy cream, which sounds nasty anyway.
anybody have interesting tasty ideas?
I like to make salmon cakes occasionally. Saute minced red bell pepper, carrots, celery and onion until they are tender, then add to one can of salmon along with an egg and and a handful of cracker or bread crumbs and mash them all together. You can add other seasonings like curry powder, thyme or dill, if you want. Form into patties and fry in oil or non-stick spray until brown and crisp on each side. I require mashed potatoes with mine, but you can serve whatever sounds good to you.
I’ve seen recipes using canned salmon to make chowder, too, but I didn’t care for the one I tried.
Here’s a good one. If one must eat a lot of canned fish, try the imported tuna from Italy or Portugal. It’s kind of expensive, but it’s so much better. I like it in this recipe:
Friday night tuna & spaghetti
1/2 package spaghetti
Olive oil
2 TB chopped Italian parsley
2 cloves chopped garlic
3 chopped anchovy fillets
2 tsp tomato paste
1-2 TB capers
1/3 cup of pitted, chopped Kalamata olives
1/3 cup of chopped red onion
1 can of Italian or Portuguese tuna in olive oil, slightly drained
salt & lots of freshly-ground black pepper to taste
Start the salted pasta water boiling and chop the ingredients. Cook the pasta until it is a minute or so short of being cooked to your taste, scoop out a large cup of pasta water, drain the pasta, and start assembling the sauce:
In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil and saute the parsley and garlic in it for a few seconds. Add the anchovy fillets and the tomato paste, and let them saute a bit. Add half the pasta water and let it cook away until it is greatly reduced. Add the remaining ingredients except for the tuna and onion, and more pasta water to achieve a soupy but not completely watery consistency. Add the cooked pasta, the tuna and raw onion, the salt and black pepper, and toss it all to coat.
Serve it drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil just before eating.
Is there any reason why it has to be canned fish? Baked cod/haddock/etc. is delicious, I think. Especially with a little butter and lemon juice, or even a sprinkling of salt and lemon juice if you don’t want the butter.
When you say you don’t like tuna salad, is there a specific kind you don’t like, or are you just philosophically opposed to cold tuna with stuff in it? 'Cause there’s more to tuna salad than mayo and pickle relish (although I love that particular form of tuna salad.)
One of my favorites is drained tuna with plain yogurt (used to be sour cream, but I’m getting better), very very very finely diced red onions, dried cranberries and pecans (or walnuts if you like them).
I also like tuna with lowfat mayo or plain yogurt, curry powder, golden raisins and crushed pineapple with sunflower seeds. Sometimes I add grated carrot for an extra veggie dose.
Mom used to put drained tuna with some frozen peas in a pot of prepared boxed mac ‘n’ cheese. Instant cheesy tuna casserole. I add in some garlic powder and fresh lemon juice.
Some of these sound quite tasty, thanks!
I don’t like the taste of mayonaise/salad dressing and I had to eat it anyway growing up so I dont’ really want to eat it now and tuna salad made with mustard really sounds unpleasant.
I am asking for canned fish because it is generally less expensive than fresh or frozen and comes in small easy to store packaging. Also if I if get ties up at work and end up with a cheese sandwich, a can of tuna will not be past it’s prime the next day, whereas fresh fish and thawed frozen fish cannot say the same.
I was thinking a variation of Salad Nicoise (sp) would probably be good too.
This may not suit you, but one of my favorite canned fish experiences is this:
Sardines in mustard sauce, mashed into a homogenized chunky paste with a fork, and spread on saltine crackers.
Seriously.
If you’re not a mustard fan, you could go with the other ones (packed in oil, or tomato sauce–which I don’t like).
Canned tuna is something that I tend to eat straight from the can, and while I’ve bought canned salmon before, the bones gross me out. So, if I buy salmon, I go for fresh or frozen. Filets over steaks.
I make a couple of seafood & pasta salad that use no mayo. These make a lot of food, if you don’t have anyone to share it with and don’t like the prospect of eating the same thing for a few days, cut in half.
Salad #1:
1 pound of pasta. Macaroni, rotini, radiatore, or conchiglie (shells) work well.
2 6 oz. cans of tuna.
2 6 oz. cans of crab or a good-sized pack of imitation crab.
2 large or 4 small cans of sliced mushrooms, drained.
2 large cans of black olives, drained & sliced (or pre-sliced).
1 bottle of vinegar-based salad dressing.
Cook & drain pasta then mix all ingredients together.
Salad #2:
1 pound of pasta. Macaroni, rotini, radiatore, or conchiglie (shells) work well.
4 cups of shredded cheese.
Balsamic or wine vinegar.
Dijon or a similar spicy mustard.
2 6 oz. cans of tuna.
2 6 oz. cans of crab or a good-sized pack of imitation crab.
2 large cans of sliced mushrooms, drained into small pot.
2 large cans of black olives, drained into same small pot & sliced (or pre-sliced).
1 can of Mackerel, drained into large pot of water.
Cook pasta in the Mackerel water.
While you’re waiting on that, add a bit of vinegar & mustard to the mushroom & olive water. Bring to a boil, add shredded cheese, then simmer until melted. Adjust amount of vinegar and/or mustard if necessary.
Drain pasta, stir in seafood, mushrooms & olives, followed by the cheese sauce.