Today I had the best tuna salad sandwich I’ve ever tasted. It didn’t come from a can and it didn’t come from a restaurant; it cam from my own kitchen.

A few days ago my neighbor gave me wild caught albacore tuna steaks from Trader Joes. I had never had tuna in any form other than canned tuna salad so this was different for me. I decided to marinate it in olive oil, pink salt and freshly ground pepper for only about 15 minutes then grilled it over medium until it just changed color to white. I squeezed fresh lemon on each steak immediately and let it rest while I whipped up a simple wasabi sauce which consisted of wasabi, low sodium soy sauce, rice vinegar and toasted sesame oil-I didn’t measure so I can’t really share an absolute recipe; I will mention that it only made about 1/4 cup that we split in small dipping bowls.

As I tasted the tuna I was delightlfully surprised that it wasn’t fishy and strong tasting. Instead it was light and meaty. I dipped each bite into the wasabi sauce for a little kick-and what a sinus-clearing kick it was!

I had lots of vegetables and some roasted tiny new potatoes so my tuna steak turned out to be my side dish as most of my meals are, yes, less meat for me is best as I do indeed practice what I teach.

I was left with half a tuna steak and my thoughts of freshly made tuna salad for lunch the next day! I put the leftover tuna in a sealable bowl and added a bit of the wasabi sauce for that slightly spicy kick and then into the refrigerator to keep.

Fast forward to the next day’s lunch time. I chopped a stick of celery and a fresh from the farm sweet onion and added it to the tuna with a few tablespoons of mayonnaise. I used one of my favorite breads-seedy rye, and spread my tuna salad atop along with a few crispy leaves of dark green lettuce.

First bite, amazing!  There was no fishy taste, no metal taste, no shelf-life taste; just smooth, sweet tasting tuna. It was absolutely the best tuna salad I have ever eaten and I believe I have been converted and will NEVER go back to canned!

If you come across fresh (or frozen) albacore tuna steaks, buy one even if all you plan to do with it is make tuna salad. I guarantee you will love it like no other!