Tuna quesadilla with sweet & sour salad
Crispy whole wheat quesadilla stuffed with creamy tuna salad, melted cheddar, and jalapeño. On the side: ribboned cucumber and carrot in a quick vinegar-honey dressing that cuts right through the richness. One skillet, fifteen minutes, 54g protein.
Tuna gets a complicated reputation because of mercury. But researchers discovered that 98% of the organic selenium in tuna muscle is a compound called selenoneine, a powerful antioxidant that also reacts directly with mercury, reducing its toxicity.
Ingredients
- cucumber 0.5 piece
- carrot 1 piece
- red onion 0.5 piece
- vinegar 1 tablespoon
- honey 1 teaspoon
- water 1 tablespoon
- jalapeño pepper 0.5 piece
- pickles 2 piece
- tomato 1 piece
- tuna, in water 5 ounces
- mayonnaise 1 tablespoon
- yogurt, nonfat 1 tablespoon
- lemon juice 1 squeeze
- cheddar cheese, shredded 1.5 ounces
- tortilla wraps, whole wheat 2 piece
Method
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Slice the cucumber and carrot into long strips using a vegetable peeler. Cut half of the red onion into thin half rings. Place them together in a bowl.
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In another small bowl, mix the vinegar, honey and boiled water. Add this mixture to the vegetables along with some salt and pepper. Stir well and let it sit for a while.
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Slice the jalapeño into rounds. Set them aside. Finely dice the other half of the red onion and cut the pickles into small cubes. Quarter the tomato, remove the seeds, and dice the flesh into small pieces. Drain the tuna well in a colander.
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Place the tuna in a bowl along with the red onion, pickles, tomato, mayonnaise, yogurt, lemon juice and some salt and pepper. Mix everything together until it forms a creamy tuna salad.
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Place a wrap on a plate. Sprinkle half of the cheese on top and then spoon the tuna salad evenly onto the wrap. Lay the jalapeño slices over the salad and sprinkle the other half of the cheese on top. Place the other wrap on top.
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Heat a skillet. Carefully place the quesadilla in the pan. Cook the quesadilla for 4 minutes in the pan, flipping it gently with a spatula halfway through.
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Slice the quesadilla into quarters. Serve on a plate alongside the sweet and sour vegetables in a bowl.
Skip the pan if you are short on time. The tuna salad works just as well spread cold over the wraps, with the sweet-and-sour vegetables alongside.
Japanese researchers identified selenoneine as the dominant selenium compound in tuna. It attaches to the proteins that carry oxygen in blood and muscle, shielding them from damage. In zebrafish studies, selenoneine reduced the toxic effects of mercury. Tuna muscle holds 5 to 40 micrograms of selenium per gram, far more than chicken, pork, or tilapia.
Yamashita et al., 2010 · DOIBehind this recipe
Is canned tuna safe to eat regularly?
Mercury in tuna is a real concern, but the picture is more complex than most articles suggest. Researchers found that 98% of the organic selenium in tuna muscle is selenoneine, a compound with strong antioxidant activity that reacts directly with mercury and reduces its toxicity. That research was conducted in lab models, not human clinical trials, so the science is still developing.
How much protein does this quesadilla deliver?
This meal delivers 54 grams of protein in a single sitting, primarily from the tuna and cheddar. That is well above the old 30-gram per-meal ceiling that circulated for years. One study tracked protein utilization after a 100-gram dose and found the body was still processing it twelve hours later.
Read the full evidence reviewCan I make this ahead of time?
The tuna salad holds well in the fridge for a day. The sweet-and-sour vegetables actually improve after an hour of marinating. For meal prep, store the tuna salad and dressed vegetables separately, then assemble and pan-fry the quesadilla fresh when you are ready to eat.
