Recipe: Fat-Free Tuna Salad-Stuffed Tomato Flowers (100 calories) Article: Tuna Salad That Makes Its Own Dressing

FAT-FREE TUNA SALAD THAT MAKES ITS OWN DRESSING

Moderation is good, but exercising it can be difficult. I find this particularly true when dressing a salad. No matter how full of bright, flavorful vegetables it is, the dressing is what unites everything else in the bowl while adding a zest of its own.

Loading on dressing, though, is undesirable because of the fat, usually from oil or mayonnaise, that most dressings contain. True, some oils are high in health-promoting essential fatty acids that can be good for you. But the amount of fat and calories in most dressings, unless they are measured out by the stingy spoonful, can quickly offset many potential health benefits to be gained from eating a nice, big salad.

Splashing on a fat-free dressing is one alternative. But most of them rely heavily on vinegar, with a resulting taste I find unpleasantly sharp. Or they use fat-free versions of mayonnaise and creamy dairy products which I find so unlike the real thing that I do not enjoy using them.

One day, quite by chance, I found a way of making tuna and chicken salads that are fat-free, loaded with flavor, and make their own dressing. Vegetables and lemon juice are the keys to making this salad, which, without vinegar, mayo, or any dairy product, is succulent, crunchy, and bursts with flavor.

Originally, as I discovered it at a deli in New York City, this salad combined chunks of chicken breast with thickly sliced bell pepper, cucumber, celery and radishes, plus strips of sliced red onion. Finely chopped parsley and fresh lemon juice, together, acted as the dressing. Making it for myself, I found one serving of this colorful combo provided a cup (two full servings) of vegetables along with lean protein.

Enamored with this refreshing, one-dish lunch, I started making variations. One that I now like even better than the original uses the water-packed tongoltuna sold in natural food stores and finely chopped vegetables. If you must, a food processor can be used to do the chopping, but this salad has more crunch when you chop by hand. For company, I serve this vibrant tuna salad heaped over a flower-cut, ripe tomato.

FAT-FREE TUNA SALAD-STUFFED TOMATO FLOWERS

1/2 medium green bell pepper
1/2 medium red bell pepper
1 small Kirby cucumber, or 4 inches European, peeled and seeded
4 red radishes
1/3 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley
1/8 medium red onion
1 (6 oz.) can water-packed tuna, white or chunk light, drained
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and freshly ground pepper
8 leaves greenleaf lettuce
4 medium tomatoes, cored

Finely chop green and red peppers, cucumber, radishes, parsley and red onion, preferably using a chef's knife. (A food processor can be used, but the vegetables will be wet and mushy.) Combine in a large bowl. Add the tuna to the vegetables, flaking it with a fork. Add the lemon juice and toss to combine well. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Arrange two lettuce leaves on each of four medium-sized plates. Place a tomato in the center of each plate. With a sharp knife, vertically cut the tomato almost to the bottom, leaving the halves attached. Rotate the tomato, making 2 more cuts to create 6 wedges. With your fingers, spread out the tomato, making a "flower." Heap 3/4 cup of the tuna salad nicely over the tomato, and serve.

Note: This tuna salad keeps in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for 24 hours.

Each of the four servings contains 100 calories and 2 grams of fat
Source: written for the American Institute for Cancer Research by Dana Jacobi