Fun with tuna | Diet and Exercise | Real Life Fitness | PhitZone

You can tune a piano, but you can’t tuna fish.

As a starving college student (okay, I wasn’t really starving, but I was often broke), I would snack on tuna almost every day. There was a can opener in my car, and I’d drain the water next to it. Then I’d eat it right out of the can.

In tuna we have a fantastic source of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, potassium, selenium, and vitamin B12. During research for this post, I discovered that it’s a good source of phosphorus and niacin as well.

The warnings now are that many fish, including tuna, has mercury in it. Does that mean that it should be avoided? No, but once a week is all right. Pregnant and nursing women, and children should probably limit eating it even more, but it doesn’t need to be avoided all together.

Most of us are familiar with canned tuna. If you are going to go this route, select chunk light packed in water. It was found to have the least amount of mercury contamination. And being packed in water you will avoid the bad fats found in the cans packed in oil.

If you’re feeling a little more adventurous, go to the fish counter at your grocery store. Ask for Ahi (yellow fin) tuna. Sushi grade is the best. It’s a nice pink color. No, you don’t have to eat it raw (as you’ll see in the recipe).

Are you on a low glycemic index (GI) diet? If so, tuna ranks as a 0. Yes, as in ZERO. It doesn’t get any lower than that.

Grilled Ahi Tuna

Marinades are a wonderful way to bring out, or add flavor. Ahi tuna steaks are no exception.

A basic marinade consists of a fat, an acid, and spice. For this we will use 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (that’s EVOO for you Rachel Ray fans).

What goes better with fish than lemon? Nothing, that’s what. With that said, use the juice of one lemon. If it’s a large lemon, maybe use half. It’s up to you.

This is kind of a Japanese flavor, so we’re going to use a teaspoon of soy sauce.

Add these ingredients in a seal-able bag, along with the tuna steaks. Remove as much air as possible, and refrigerate. The key that I’ve discovered here is that 15-20 minutes is plenty of time.

Heat the grill up. Once hot, oil it up. I tend to use vegetable oil (it’s cheap), and a folded paper towel. If you fail to do this, the tuna steaks will stick to the grill. Not good. Cover the grill, and let it heat back up.

When ready, place the tuna steaks on the grill and cover (always cover to improve cooking on a grill). After about four minutes, the steak should easily separate from the grill. If so, flip it over and cook for another 4 minutes.

When time is up, remove it, and enjoy! There should be a nice pink color in the center. It’s not raw, so have no worries.

I like to put it on fresh whole wheat tortillas, with some chopped cabbage, and home made salsa (I’ll cover my salsa next time).

Nutrition facts

(For 1 serviing, 4 oz., Ahi tuna – no marinade)

Calories – 122

Fat – 1.1g

Sat. Fat – .3 g

Carbs – 0g

Protein – 26.4 g