Tuna-tastrophe?

The hubs is going to be sooo excited that I used his new word as the title for this post.

Tonight - or actually today - had disaster written all over it. Sick kid, lousy weather, baby flu shot, blah. So of course, why not have a matching dinner?

(A little video distraction to match NEOs weather today...)

In keeping with the spirit of trying to include more fish in our lives (and to keep my trainer happy) I selected a tuna meal tonight. However, I was unable to find one of the key ingredients, so I decided to wing it.

Remember peeps - I am not a chef. I'm a PR person. So I can usually follow a recipe, but my creativity usually manifests itself at work, not in the kitchen. Therefore, "winging it" is not always the best solution for us. Nor, by the way, is trying to open a bag of frozen veggie quinoa without scissors. Because it ends up flying all over the place. And frozen quiona is NOT fun to try and clean up.

Anywho, we ate tuna. And quinoa. And broccoli. And lived to tell, despite my best efforts to kill off this meal.

Spicy Thai Tuna Cakes with Cucumber Aioli
Source: Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast, Spring/Summer 2010

Ingredients:

• 3 (5-oz) cans Thai chili-flavored tuna, drained (couldn't find this at all, so used super low sodium canned tuna)
• 1 large egg white
• 1/2 c. panko
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (skip)
• Cooking spray
• 1/2 c. shredded cucumber (skip)
• 1/2 c. light mayo (skip - I do not love mayo unless it is stirred in and can't be tasted)

Directions:

• Combine first 4 ingredients in a medium bowl. Divide mixture into four equal portions, shaping each into a 3/4-inch thick patty.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet over med heat. Coat pan and patties with cooking spray. Add patties; cook 1-2 mins on each side or until lightly browned.
• While the patties cook, combine cucumber and mayo in a small bowl. Serve with tuna cakes. (Skipped this entire step)

Yield: 4 servings (1 cake and 2 tbsp aioli)
Per serving: Cals: 173; fat: 9g (12g; 3.8g mono; 3.6g poly); 10.1g protein; 11.9g carbs; 26mg chol; 413mg sodium

Reviews:
Meh. The tuna cakes were dry and fell apart. I added a little bit of Dijon mustard and some pepper flakes to flavor it up. Didn't really work. Nor did these brown after 1-2 minutes. So, I basically squished them down into a single tuna pancake and crisped them up. They were edible and I know this was a reasonably healthy dinner, but this meal was not anything to write home about. At least the salvaged quinoa and my steamed broccoli was good.

Funny note about the broccoli. Because the kid went home from school today with stomach issues, I was the only one who had broccoli with dinner (the hubs eating steamed broccoli by choice is as likely as Ohio State winning the national championship this year). I don't think steamed broccoli is a smart choice for stomach pains, but the kid pouted and pouted and pouted until I relented and gave him a tiny piece. And he was totes OK with skipping his evening treat. Go figure.

Ranking:
One Fork

Tuna pancakes