Equipment
- Food Processor
Ingredients
- 4 5 oz cans Wild Planet Skipjack tuna
- 2 cups celery (roughly chopped)
- 1 cup scallion (roughly chopped)
- 1 cup cilantro (whole leaves, loosely packed)
- 1 cup parsley (whole leaves, loosely packed)
- 1 1/2 cups roasted canned green chilies (chopped (drained and patted dry))
- 1/4 cup pickled jalapeños (drained and diced)
- 2 tbsp pickled jalapeños juice (from the jar)
- 3/4 cup mayo (your favorite)
- 1 tsp celery seeds
- 16 thick slices of milk bread (or your favorite white bread, etc)
- 6 tbsp salted butter (room temp, plus a little more for the pan)
- 24 oz pepper jack cheese (grated)
- Kettle chips (preferably a spicy jalapeño variety, but choose whatever speaks to you)
Directions
- Start the tuna salad. Add the celery and scallion to a food processor and pulse just until everything’s around the size of a large dice (around 3/4” pieces), then add the herbs and pulse again until the celery and scallion are about the size of a medium dice (around 1/2” pieces). Add the tuna and pulse till the tuna is broken into smaller pieces, then celery and scallion are at the small dice stage (1/4” pieces) and everything is incorporated.
- Finish the tuna salad. Transfer the tuna mixture to a large mixing bowl, then add the chopped green chiles, pickled jalapeños, jalapeño juice, mayo, celery seed, a pinch of salt and a bunch of freshly cracked black pepper and mix till homogenous. Cover and refrigerate till you’re ready to assemble.
- Make the crispy cheese. Heat a non-stick pan or cast iron over medium heat, then spread 1 1/2 ounces of grated pepper jack cheese into a shape a little smaller than your slices of bread (they’ll spread a bit). Cook undisturbed for around 5 minutes until the cheese is golden brown, then flip and cook another minute or two. Transfer to a paper towel-lined sheet pan and repeat for remaining crisps.
- Butter and toast the bread. Spread 1/2 tbsp on one side of each slice of bread, then heat a skillet to medium heat. Once the pan has warmed up, add a little bit of butter to the center and spread to about the size of your bread slice, then add a slice of bread, buttered-side down and apply slight pressure to help it brown evenly. Once it’s golden brown, remove from the heat and repeat with the remaining slices.
- Broil the cheese. Position your oven racks so they’re near the bottom of the oven. Add 1 1/2 ounces of grated pepper jack cheese evenly over half of the slices of bread, then transfer those cheese-topped bread slices to a sheet pan and broil on the top rack (again, positioned at the lower end of the oven) until the cheese is melted, then remove.
- Assemble and serve. Lay the slices of cheese-less bread so they’re toasty-side down, then add 1/6 of the tuna salad onto each slice and spread evenly. Add a crispy cheese “chip”, a handful of kettle chips, and top with the other slice of cheesy toast (cheese-side down). Slice how you like and enjoy immediately!
Notes
- No food processor? No problem. You can mince the celery, scallion and herbs by hand!
- If you have a large griddle or a larger skillet, you can toast more than one slice of bread at once, just make sure your pan heats evenly for even browning and rotate if/as needed. Same with the cheese chips!
- To lower the calories, use less tuna salad per sandwich, use less cheese to top the bread and for the crisps, use spray oil instead of butter, use thinly sliced bread — lots of options!
- This isn’t high in fiber, so a side of raspberries and/or blackberries would round this out nicely while staying low calorie.
- You may have noticed that in the corresponding video for this recipe, I added cheese to both slices of bread. I love to live that YOLO life. Obviously this adds extra calories, so I left it out here, but feel free to add if you feel so inclined!
- The nutrition facts do not include the Kettle chips, so be sure to calculate your desired amount on the side using whichever brand/variety you prefer.
Micronutrient Highlights
185% vitamin K, 70% vitamin A, 53% phosphorus, 50% calcium, 32% vitamin B2 + zinc, 31% vitamin C, 28% vitamin B12