People
in the bodybuilding world simply love tuna. Tuna is a great fish
which is packed with a hefty amount of protein. While eating fresh
or frozen tuna is a good idea as you can have a tuna steak, weightlifting
and weight training fanatics find it more convenient and handy
to use tuna straight from the can. Let's face it, with so many
meals to eat everyday, eating should become easy and quick and
canned tuna really helps a lot on this aspect as you can simply
open a can and eat straight away. But doing this time and time
again can become quite boring, just like eating bland chicken
breast which is a favorite food for bodybuilders. So you'll need
to get a bit more creative with your canned tuna. Apart using
tuna in omelette, making a tuna salad or tuna pasta, here is a
great recipe using canned tuna which is a tuna burger. It's pretty
amazing how you can use such a cheap item and turn it into something
which costs much more visually.
First
of all, when using canned tuna, get the one in brine or spring
water instead of oil. It will be easier for this recipe but also
since you'll be draining the water from the can, you'll retain
most of the omega-3s as tuna in oil tends to lose more of its
omega-3s after being drained as compared to tuna in water.
Here
are the ingredients and step-by-step instructions for your tuna
burger recipe using canned tuna. For this recipe, you can use
either tuna flakes, tuna chunks or tuna solid. This depends on
personal taste. If you want more bite from your tuna, you will
use chunks or better yet solid. Tuna flakes will become too much
of a paste during the burger mix. What you'll need:
(1)
2 cans of drained tuna
(2) 1 egg
(3) Wholegrain oats or 5 saltine crackers finely crushed
(4) One medium onion finely chopped
(5) Dash of garlic powder
(6) Fresh red chilies finely chopped
(7) 2 tsp Low-fat mayonnaise
(8) 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
(9) 1 tsp Mustard
(10) Cilantro or scallion finely chopped
This
recipe uses many ingredients and it's pretty savory but you can
definitely vary it and omit some of them to make it simpler or
according to your preference and taste. If you don't like chilies,
you can substitute them for red bell peppers for instance. Heck,
you can just use the first 3 ingredients only which is the core
of the tuna burger. The remaining ingredients are for taste and
texture.
Step
1: Crack the egg and place it in a bowl. Whisk it. The egg
will act as a binding agent.
Step
2: Add the drained tuna and mix.
Step
3: Lightly sauteed the chopped onions and chilies to soften
them up and release their aroma, then add to the above mixture.
Step
4: Add a dash of garlic powder.
Step
5: Add the mayonnaise, mustard, worcestershire sauce and cilantro/scallion.
Mix everything up.
Step
6: The mixture will be watery and now you need to add some
wholegrain oats or finely crushed saltine crackers to thicken
it up. You can use a food processor or a mortar and pestle to
crush the crackers into crumbs. Wholegrain oats is more recommended
for bodybuilders as it's a great complex carb, so not only will
you get a high-protein burger, you'll also get your fair amount
of complex carbs which is really a great muscle-building combo.
Add the oats till you get your mixture to desired consistency
which is not too watery or too hard.
Step
7: After everything is mixed up well, it's time to form the
tuna burger patties. Take a fist-sized portion and roll into a
ball, then press it down to about half an inch thick. After all
your patties are done and placed onto a plate, put them in the
fridge for at least 30 minutes. This process will firm up the
patties and prevent them from breaking up during cooking.
Step
8: After 30 minutes, remove patties from fridge. Heat your
skillet(non-stick pans or cast iron pans are great) using medium
heat. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. When pan is hot
enough, add the tuna burger patties and reduce heat to medium-low.
Let it cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Step
9: Serve tuna burger patties in wholewheat sandwiches or buns
accompanied with lettuce leaves, slice of tomatoes and your favorite
condiments. Enjoy.
As this recipe might be labor-intensive for some, it's great to
use it from time to time only to break up the monotony of your
eating routine. At least you know you have alternatives from eating
canned tuna. For more muscle-building recipes and ideas, be sure
to visit Anabolic
Cooking which is the ultimate cookbook and complete nutrition
guide for bodybuilding and fitness. You'll get highly creative
with your cooking by harnessing the tips and tricks found in this
powerful guide.