Loaded Tuna Salad - Video Recipe

I'm called "The Tuna Mouse" at home because of how quickly a Loaded Tuna Salad just seems to vanish!

The extra briny olives give color and the salty taste goes well with sweet bread and butter pickles. Mixed into canned tuna, for a rich flavor, are chopped eggs and mayo.

It's one delicious concoction that fits snuggly into pita bread or bread roll, fills a pitted half slice of ripe avocado, or scooped on a green salad. All all the ingredients I find easily at 99c only Stores and the Dollar Tree!

Click on any photo to see larger.

The addition of green olives makes this Loaded Tuna Salad extra unique. It's quite easy to find them at my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree markets. You can use the plain type or ones with pimentoes.

Eggs are still cheap these days, I get an eight-count container at my local Dollar Tree. I use one whole boiled egg, chopped. This ingredient is optional and okay to leave out.

You can use a little chopped pickle, or just go with pickle relish, which I always have a half-used jar left over from hot dogs, way back on a refrigerator shelf.

I also add finely chopped onion to my Loaded Tuna Salad, but leave it out if you don't care for the taste of raw onion.

Mustard and Mayo are cheap if you have a Dollar Tree or 99c only Store in the 'hood. Hey, even Grey Poupon shows up on my 99c only Store shelves every once in a while. Okay to use any favorite mayo, including Miracle Whip or vegan mayo.

The main ingredient, canned tuna, is a cheap$kate staple in my kitchen pantry. I usually get "Chunk Light" tuna in water. I use two small cans for this recipe. "Solid" canned tuna is more expensive because it is a solid hunk of tuna and almost twice as much the amount as "Chunk."

Make sure not to mistakenly get tuna in oil, unless you like it that way. Also, drain the tuna of water, so Tuna Salad doesn't get all soggy and mushy.

The basic recipe is good for other canned fish like salmon, or chicken, too. So get out the can opener and twist off a few condiment jar lids and mix up my tasty and Loaded Tuna Salad.

Loaded Tuna Salad - VIDEO

Play here, video runs 1 minute 36 seconds

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients

• 1 can of solid tuna in water - about 6 ounces, or 2 cans of "chunk" tuna. Drained.
• 1 boiled egg - peeled and chopped.
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion - red, white, green or yellow onion.
• 1 tablespoon green olives chopped or sliced - with or without pimento.
• 1 tablespoon sweet relish - okay to use chopped pickle.
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise - add more or less to your taste.
• 1 teaspoon regular or dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste - I find canned tuna salty enough, so I usually leave out salt.

Directions
Set aside 1 boiled egg (15 minutes at low boil) to cool.

 Fine-chop onion. Roughly chop green olives and a pickle (if you don't have pickle relish.

To a bowl add drained tuna, along with peeled and chopped boiled egg, chopped pickle (relish,) green olives and onion.

Add one tablespoon of mayo at a time to reach desired creaminess. As you mix all ingredients and taste. I like a little black pepper to season my Loaded Tuna Salad. I find there is enough salt from canned tuna.

Serve in pita or regular bread. Delicious as an appetizer with crackers or add a scoop to an avocado half, or fave salad.

How about a Loaded Tuna Melt? Just add a slice of cheese to Tuna Sandwich, and brown it with melted butter in a stove top pan, just like you would a regular Grilled Cheese Sandwich.

It's okay to leave out some ingredients. The main ones are tuna, mayo and pickle relish.

Lazybones shortcut

The Best Chicken Salad Recipe - Video

I love Chicken Salad as much as Tuna Salad. It's a milder taste compared to tuna, so the crunchy veggies and mayo/mustard come forward in flavor. My Chicken Salad recipe video will have coming back for seconds and thirds once you've had your first bite.

The ingredient list is small. I like a little fine chopped onion and celery for crunch. And those veggies are about the lest expensive ones you can find at any grocery store.

I also include a tablespoon of pickle relish. I find it at my local 99c only Store and Dollar Tree. You can add more or less veggies and relish to suit your taste. You can even leave out the veggies for a more meaty salad.

I add a little mustard with a lot of mayo for extra creamy Chicken Salad. Again, you can adjust the balance to please yourself and the family. If you don't like mustard then leave it out.

Some recipes call for the herb Dill. Again, use it if you like it, or forget about it.

All the ingredients come cheaply these days. I get dark chicken leg quarters for way less than a dollar per pound and white meat for around 99 cents per pound from Superior, my local Latin market. Dark meat is harder to filet than white meat, but after you've done it a few times it does get easier

I lightly boil or poach the chicken pieces so they stay moist. You can use any chicken you have on hand, either fresh-baked or sauteed, too. I've used leftover roasted whole chicken from the deli case of my local grocery chain store when it's on sale, usually at the end of the work week. Leave out the skin and bones. Canned chicken is fine to use, too - just drain it, like you would with canned tuna.

Poaching Video

I always can find mayo and mustard on sale. And onion and celery are some of the least expensive veggies around.

Click on any photo to see larger.

Chicken Salad is a versatile recipe that's delish between 2 slices of bread, or as an appetizer and spread on any favorite cracker. Put a big scoop on your favorite green garden salad for extra flavor and heft.

So get out the leftover cooked poultry and mix up my latest video recipe of Chicken Salad.

Chicken Salad - Video

Play it here. Video runs 1 minutes, 38 seconds.

To view or embed from YouTube, click here.

Ingredients

• 1/2 chicken breast - cooked and cubed. About 2 cups. Okay to use dark meat leg quarter (leg plus thigh.) Use leftover cooked turkey during Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays.
• 1/4 cup chopped onion - okay to add more or less to taste. I fine chopped 1/4 of a white onion. You can use any type of onion including red and green onion.
• 1/2 cup chopped celery - okay to add more or less to taste. I used one celery rib.
• 1 tablespoon pickle relish - optional.
• 1 teaspoon mustard - or Dijon mustard. I've made this salad without mustard.
• 3 tablespoons mayo - any favorite light or whole mayo. Again add a tablespoon at a time to reach your preferred creaminess.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• 1/4 teaspoon Dill - herb can be dried or fresh. Optional ingredient.

Directions
Use boneless and skinless cooked chicken. I used leftover breast meat from a roast chicken.

You can boil/simmer chicken pieces about a half hour in seasoned water. Or, saute chicken in a little oil. Just make sure chicken is cooked all the way through - no pink or red juices.

While chicken cooks you can chop celery and onion. I like onion in salads (tuna, chicken, turkey, egg) fine chopped. For celery, I like pieces a little larger. Okay to chop veggies anyway you like.

Now time to bring it all together. Add chicken and chopped veggies to a bowl.

Mix in a tablespoon of pickle relish. Add 1/4 teaspoon of the herb Dill (optional.)

Stir in a tablespoon of mayo at a  time to reach your desired creaminess. I mixed in about 3 tablespoons. Add teaspoon of mustard. Okay to add or subtract amounts of mayo and mustard.

Finally salt and pepper to taste. Store Chicken Salad in the refrigerator. If you wait a couple of hours before serving, then all the ingredients will have time to meld and become more intense.

I like to scoop my Chicken Salad onto a toasted onion bagel. You can serve Chicken Salad with crackers as an appetizer. Add a scoop of Chicken Salad to your fave salad.

Macaroni & Krab Salad with Avocado

This recipe is Wife Approved and she actually makes it herself. I just kicked back and took a few photos so you can see how she does a Macaroni & Krab Salad with Avocado.

I like Macaroni Salad anytime and this one couldn't be easier to do. Once you cook the macaroni, just cool it down then get to chopping a few veggies.

Juicy tomato and creamy avocado always go well together, and with the addition of fake crab you have a real winner of a cold salad for a hot day.

I can find tomatoes for less than a dollar per pound, especially smaller Roma and cherry tomatoes. Avocados are frequently on sale at my local Latin market.

Fake crab, or krab, is carried by my local 99c only Stores, but since you only need half a pound for this recipe even regular markets often sell it for $2 to $3 dollars per pound - so it's still a cheap$kate seafood deal.

And pasta is a deal at any grocery store.

So there is no excuse not to make my latest recipe, Macaroni & Krab Salad with Avocado, especially when it's Wife Approved! It travels well, so make plenty to bring to your next pot luck or get-together.

Ingredients

• 12 to 16 ounces of elbow macaroni - small or large elbow.
• 1 cup chopped tomtoes - about 2 to 4 tomatoes, depending on size. You can use any type of tomato even smaller and cheaper Roma or cherry tomatoes.
• 1 cup chopped avocado - about 2 avocados, depending on size. Okay to add less according to your budget.
• 8 ounces fake crab - okay to use more or less to your taste.
• 1 and 1/2 cups of mayo - I used light, but okay to use regular or any type you like. Add as much mayo as you like. May need to add more mayo for larger 16 ounce package of macaroni.
• 1 teaspoon of vinegar - optional. Use white or rice vinegar. Okay to substitute with lemon or lime juice to keep avocado fresh looking, if you are picnic or pot luck bound.
• Salt and Pepper to taste.
• Water - enough to cover and boil dry macaroni.

Directions
Add water to a large pot and bring to a boil. Add dried elbow macaroni and cook until desired tenderness, about 7 to 10 minutes. Okay to follow macaroni package directions.

After macaroni is tender, drain it and cool macaroni down with cold water -- so the cooking stops before macaroni becomes to mushy.

Add macaroni to a large bowl. Add a teaspoon of vinegar to macaroni.

Add mayo. Mix and taste to see if it's creamy enough for you. Add more mayo if necessary.

Shred and mix in fake krab.

Add chopped tomatoes and avocados. Lightly mix all ingredients. Be careful when mixing, if avocado is very soft. Okay to add avocado last, so you don't smash it up.

Serve right away, or refrigerate for a few hours to chill. Avocado will start to brown the next day, so best to try and finish Macaroni & Krab Salad with Avocado in a couple of days; or just add fresh cubed avocado before each serving.

Wife Approved Recipe - Trader Joe's Curried White Deli Chicken Salad

My wife loves Trader Joe's Curried White Deli Chicken Salad, and so do I. She will often chastise me after I finish off the small tub of leftovers she leaves in the refrigerator - hey, it's her own dang fault for not hiding it better!

She shops at Trader Joe's more than any other grocery store. If you don't know Trader Joe's, it has a fanatical following (like In-n-Out Burger) here in Los Angeles, and it's even spread to New York City, after a store opened there a few years ago. (Click here for the website.)

They carry specialized frozen and fresh packaged foods, locally baked bread, organic veggies and fruit, hormone-free meat, chicken and fish, along with a huge selection of exotic beer, wine and spirits.

They my be best know for introducing the tasty 2 Buck Chuck line of wine (no longer 2 bucks, but still cheap) that is the favorite beverage of starving artist and actors, served at parties, dorm rooms, and gallery openings. There is even a popular cookbook series devoted to Trader Joe grocery store ingredients (see them here.) Check out  below a few stocked items.

Wall of Cheese

Well, I picked Trader Joe's recipe lock for my latest cheap$kate treasured bite. What makes Trader Joe's Curried White Chicken Deli Salad so good is the disparate flavorful contents. You have green onions and raisins, cashew nuts, garlic powder, lime juice and shredded carrots, with chicken, all in a mayo, mustard, honey and curry sauce. Whew, it shouldn't all work together, but boy does it ever.

This chicken salad will quickly move up the ladder on you favorites list. It's crunchy with cashews, creamy with mayo, and so flavorful with cumin or curry spice, plus an added sweet touch of honey. Especially when I can make almost twice as much, for less than the price of Trader Joe's eleven ounces at $3.99!

And luckily I can get almost all the package listed ingredients from my local 99c only Store. I bought a chicken breast on sale for 99 cent per pound at my local Latin market and poached it in water. Or, you can use any leftover chicken from a roast you buy in the deli section of your local grocery. (Using dark meat is the cheapest, but still tasty, way to go.)

I always find small packages of nuts. This recipe calls for cashews, but regular cooked peanuts are a cheap substitution. If you buy salted nuts, I recommend rinsing off the salt, then allowing them to dry. Too much salt will overwhelm the chicken salad.

Chicken and nuts are the most expensive ingredients, while raisins, green onions, shredded carrots, mayo and mustard are cheap enough. You need curry and garlic powder, but I find ground cumin has all the curry flavor you need. (I also find prepared curry powder cheaply at my local India or Middle Eastern mom and pop groceries.)

My Curried White Chicken Deli Salad is not as yellow as Trader Joe's version because turmeric powder is used. While this spice adds another level of flavor, it also adds a yellow tint. But I find the overall taste is close enough to Trader Joe's chicken salad, even without it. If you have turmeric in your spice rack then go ahead and add a teaspoon. I'm not replicating their recipe exactly, I'm more concerned about the overall flavor and using ingredients any of my visitors can find for the right price.

I make this as I would a regular mayo-based chicken or tuna salad, just adding the extra ingredients listed above. The ingredient amounts are the main mystery. Hmmm, I'm just guessing the balance, but I think it's close enough. And you can always adjust any ingredient amount to suit your own taste buds.

This recipe is wife approved, so I know everyone will like it. And don't let Trader Joe's know that I ripped off their Curried White Chicken Deli Salad recipe and made it for almost half the price, I don't want to get banned from getting their 2 Buck Chuck Chardonnay!

Ingredients (3-4 servings. Yeah right, like it will last that long!)

• 1 - 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast - I poached a large half-breast. Okay to use roasted chicken from your favorite grocery store. Poaching dark meat chicken is a tasty and cheaper way to go.
• 1/2 cup roasted cashew nuts - if salted, then rinse them off and allow the nuts to dry. Okay to substitute with cheaper roasted and shelled peanuts.
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 1 cup of shredded carrot - I used packaged. You can thin "matchstick" slice a carrot, or hand-shred it with a veggie shredder.
• 2 green onions - chopped
• 1/2 cup of mayo - okay to add more or less for desired creamyness.
• 1 teaspoon mustard - any type. I used coarse ground mustard.
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin or curry powder - I find ground cumin is the cheap and easy way to go, as it is close enough to regular powdered curry (which can be hard to get.) If you have turmeric then add a teaspoon for color and extra flavor.
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder - or granulated garlic.
• 1 teaspoon lemon or lime juice - fresh or from a bottle.
• 1 teaspoon honey - or any favorite sweetener.

Directions
Roughly chop or shred cooked chicken breast. Total amount should be about 2 cups. You can use deli store bought roasted chicken, or follow my chicken poaching method below.

I bought a large half-breast of raw chicken. I filled a pot of water halfway covering the chicken breast. Season it with salt and pepper (or any favorite spices and aromatic veggies like onion and garlic.) Put a lid on the pot and low boil the breast about 1/2 hour to 45 minutes, depending how large the breast is. You can slice into the thickest part of the chicken breast to make sure it cooks all the way through.

When chicken is fully cooked remove and allow it to cool so you can handle it. (And save the homemade chicken broth for a tasty soup, like my veggie loaded Mexican Calabasitas, a click away here.)

While chicken is cooking you can prepare the other ingredients. Chop 2 green onions and shred a carrot, unless you buy shredded carrot in a bag.

If roasted cashew nuts are salted, then rinse them off under water then allow them to dry out.

When chicken is cooled down after cooking, then remove the meat from the breastbone. Pull off the skin and any fatty pieces and discard. Finally, slice or shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. (Do the same if you use dark meat.)

Now time to bring it all together.

Add into a large bowl the sliced and cubed chicken, along with chopped green onion, raisins and cashews.

Add a teaspoon of mustard. Spoon on 1/2 cup of mayo. (After everything is mixed together, taste it as see if you want more mayo - if so, then add a teaspoon at a time to desired creamyness.)

Sprinkle on the cumin (or curry powder) and garlic powder. Finally drizzle on a teaspoon of lemon or lime juice, and a teaspoon of honey, or a favorite sweetener.

Mix well. That's it.

Best to refrigerate the Curried White Chicken Deli Salad for a couple of hours, so the spices and other flavors intensify. Store it in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

I like this chicken salad served with crackers. You can put it on sandwich bread or in pita bread. Also, try adding a couple scoops to a favorite leafy salad.

Hindsight
Again adjust the ingredients to suit your taste. If you want a lighter curry taste then take away some ground cumin, curry, or turmeric powder.

Same goes for honey, mayo and mustard. Add a little at a time, then taste. Using less, or no honey, is okay as raisins add a good amount of sweetness.

Also stretch it out with more carrot, raisins and green onions - you could even add some celery or apple. If you like a lot of protein then add more chicken.

Substitute regular roasted peanuts instead of more expensive cashew nuts. You can taste the difference when fresh made, but after a day, or so, the curry flavor takes over and any nuts will taste the same.

I've made Trader Joe's Curried White Chicken Deli Salad with dark meat. There recently was a great sale at my Latin grocery store for skinless and boneless leg quarters (thigh and leg combined) for 88 cents per pound! While white meat is more common in chicken salads, I like dark meat, as it's more moist than white meat. You can poach a leg quarter and chop it for this salad. Dark meat has more fat that you can easily remove if necessary.

This recipe is easy to double the ingredient amounts. Although, you may not want to exactly double the mayo, mustard and cumin (curry powder,) just add a little more at a time and taste.