Cats and Curried Tuna Lettuce Wraps

Curried Tuna Salad in Lettuce Wrap
Recipe at end of post

Lo-o-o-ve me.

I recently finished some commissioned cat portraits.  I love cats, and I love painting them.  It’s so sad that I’m highly allergic to them, though, so we can’t live with them (I’ve tried, believe me!)   So painting is the next best option!

I often add cats to my book illustrations, even if they aren’t mentioned in the text.  I just love their presence.  I usually put in cats I know.  The white one with the black tail below is “Taxi”, my friend’s beloved cat, whom I loved too.  He makes an appearance in my first illustrated book, Night Shift Daddy.

I even devoted a whole parallel narrative to Chanukah Lights Everywhere involving cats.  On each night of Chanukah, more cats appear.  It’s fun to try and find them all.  Below is the 6th night, so hiding cats is getting tricky.  In the winter sometimes our street looks like this (minus all the cats, of course!) I won’t ask you to find all six, because one of them is cut off — a white cat is on one of the rooftops.  There are three cats in the windows, one cat being walked by a woman, and another cat in a green cat carrier in the background.

My husband always had cats before we got together.  I even tried to live with the last pair, Bogey and Misia, for five years, before we found good people to take care of them.

I think all those years of taking care of of cats has made it impossible for him to eat any kind of canned fish.  He can’t help but to associate it with cat food.

I, on the other hand, am happy to eat canned tuna, sardines, salmon, etc.  Also, it’s not like I eat it straight out of the can!  When you season everything it takes on a whole other dimension!
It’s also so good for you, filled with protein, good fats, calcium…

To eat, just roll the thin part of the leaf over and munch!

I made these Curried Tuna Lettuce Wraps for lunch today, and they were so good!  I love eating lettuce instead of bread in the summer because it’s just so darn refreshing and delicious.  You can use iceberg or butter lettuce in place of romaine.  I love the flavor and texture of romaine lettuce though.  The saltiness of the  cashews and sweetness of the golden raisins and apple are a nice complement to the curried tuna which has a bit of a kick!

Curried Tuna Lettuce Wraps

1 can of environmentally safe tuna

1/2 stalk of celery, minced (about 1/4 cup)

1/4 Fuji apple, diced (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon Madras curry powder

kosher salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons chopped roasted salted cashews

2 tablespoons golden raisins

washed and dried Romaine or other crunchy lettuce leaves

1.  Drain canned tuna and transfer to a bowl.  Add remaining ingredients, except lettuce leaves and stir to combine.  Adjust seasonings to taste.

2.  Wrap tuna salad in lettuce leaves.  Eat!

Inside Out Salmon Sushi Roll

I was recently invited by Green Peace to enter their “Think Outside the Can” recipe contest.  They launched the contest to raise awareness on the destructive and irresponsible tuna fishing practices of large companies, such as Chicken of the Sea. The hope is that by raising awareness, these companies will realize their customers care about environmental practices.

My recipe uses an alternative to tuna– canned Wild Alaskan Salmon.  Salmon caught in Alaska is abundant and the fishing processes used are not damaging to the environment. This Seafood Guide is helpful to determine whether or not the seafood you are buying is eco-friendly or not.

The salmon salad I make has an Asian flair with roasted sesame oil and wasabi mayonnaise.  In Japanese convenient stores, tuna salad used in rice balls (onigiri) is common, and I thought I’d do a sushi roll (makizushi) version and replace the tuna with salmon.  You could also just use it in a sandwich or on crackers of course!

First, cover a sushi rolling mat with saran (I had forgotten to do this in the photo!  The saran makes life easier).  Then place roasted dried seaweed (nori) sheet on top.  Cover with a layer of seasoned rice using a spoon or paddle. I dip the back in water while pressing which keeps the rice from sticking to it.  Sprinkle the rice with roasted sesame seeds.

Flip the whole thing over so that the nori is facing up.  This is where the saran comes in handy!

Note: Make sure the mat is oriented so that the long side is facing you as in this photo! I failed to do this in the previous photos.

Put a strip of the salmon salad in the middle with a sprig of green onion.  Then, using the roller, roll up tightly from the bottom.  Cover the filling with the bottom of the nori and rice and slowly continue to roll, gradually removing saran as you go (so that it doesn’t get caught inside).  At the top 3/4″ of the nori, wet with a bit of water with your finger and finish the roll.  The water will seal the ends together.

All rolled up.

Then cut the roll in half, then cut the halves into fourths, so you have eight pieces per roll.

I actually prefer the taste of the salmon used this way than tuna!

Salmon Salad

2 tablespoons of light mayonnaise

1-2  teaspoons of wasabi paste, to taste

6 oz can of Wild Alaskan salmon

1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil

kosher salt

black pepper

1. Mix mayonnaise and wasabi paste together in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Drain salmon and break up flesh with a fork in a bowl.
3. Add mayonnaise mixture and sesame oil to salmon and season to taste with salt and pepper.  Mix until incorporated.

Inside Out Salmon Sushi Roll

(Note:  Japanese rice, nori, and black sesame seeds are usually available in Asian stores or the International section in grocery stores.  Sushi rollers are available in Japanese markets or here.)

2 ½ cups cooked white rice (made from 1 cup uncooked rice)

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 ½ teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 sheets nori (dried roasted seaweed)

2 tablespoons roasted sesame seeds (black or white)

Salmon salad (see above)

1 scallion, trimmed and cut in half lengthwise

1. While rice is cooking, whisk together rice vinegar, sugar and salt together in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Put freshly cooked rice into a large bowl and sprinkle with rice vinegar mixture.  Mix with a wooden paddle or spoon while fanning the rice.
3. Cover a sushi roller with a piece of saran wrap.  Orient the mat so that the long side is facing you.  Place a sheet of nori on top.
4. Spread half of the sushi rice on top in a thin layer, using a spoon.  Dip the back of the spoon in water to prevent rice from sticking while you press down on the rice.
5. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds on top.  Flip over so that the nori is face up.
6. Spread ½ of the salmon salad in center and top with green onion.  Roll the sushi by first covering the filling with the bottom part of the sheet and rice and gently pulling towards you so that the roll is tight.  Then slowly continue to roll while removing saran wrap.  When you get to the top, wet the top ¾ inch of margin of the nori with a bit of water with your finger and finish the roll.  The water will seal the ends together.
7. Cut the roll in half, then cut the halves into fourths.  Make another roll in the same manner with the remaining salmon salad.

Yield:  16 pieces from 2 rolls.