Elevate Tuna Salad With This Small, Crisp Fruit

There's nothing quite like the humble tuna salad. This fish-based dish is loaded with protein, beneficial omega-3s, and a bunch of nutrients from all the added veggies. It's also a quick, easy, and rewarding option with plenty of potential for unbridled creativity. Yet, out of all the tuna salad recipes to whip up for lunch, there's one that nabs the crown, and that's the everything green tuna salad. Intriguingly, the secret behind its success is the addition of one crisp fruit: grapes.

To elevate a recipe that's become too predictable, adding green grapes into the mix is your best option. The bursts of juice and satisfying crunch of the fruit will add a flavorsome complexity and provide textural contrast. The grapes' extra sweetness also rounds out the tuna's savory notes. Plus, their green color even blends aesthetically with the other ingredients. 

Adding grapes to tuna salad isn't rocket science. Simply wash and dry the fruit. You can either leave grapes whole or slice them. Then, mix them together with tuna, celery, cucumber, scallion, and any optional herbs like mint. Finish the recipe by tossing everything with a dressing of your choice — we suggest a zesty lime vinaigrette or a creamy green goddess dressing.

Tuna salad has an excellent nutritional reputation, but what about grapes? The good news is that this fruit is also a nutritional goldmine. A single cup has 21% of your daily value of copper, 18% of Vitamin K, and 9% of Vitamin B1, which can help the body function as it should. Boasting potent antioxidants, grapes — a serving size hovers at around 15 to 20 grapes – can also kickstart the repair of damaged cells and protect against cancer, diabetes, and inflammation. Adding these to your tuna salad elevates the recipe's health potential, not just its flavor or aesthetic. 

Of course, quality matters to ensure these benefits. It's worth learning the easy way to pick ripe grapes without sneaking a taste. Utilizing your other senses, look for bright colors (both on the grapes and their stems) and a subtle white bloom to indicate freshness. Avoid any foul-smelling produce, and when possible, check for a taut and firm textures. A careful checklist is the key to choosing grapes that will be crisp and flavorful enough to do justice in your next tuna salad.