Tuna Salad Is Way Better With One Bright And Briny Addition

Sprucing up a classic tuna salad with shallots, crunchy carrots, and herbs is a simple way to lend it a satisfying texture, heaps of additional fiber, and an inviting color. In fact, it's such a forgiving dish that you can add virtually any leftover bits and pieces knocking about in your fridge, from sweetcorn and chopped celery to diced apples and bell peppers, to create a different variation every time. However, these technicolor additions have nothing on the flavor and texture that bright and briny green olives bring to the table.

Green olives have to be cured to remove a bitter compound present in their flesh, called oleuropein, before they are packed in a salty brine. This brining process imbues them with an inherent salinity and an umami-richness that makes them taste uber-satisfying and filling. Perfect for amping up the flavors in a basic tuna salad, these tangy green olives also elevate its mouthfeel with their plump texture.

If you like the meaty firmness of the popular table olives, feel free to toss them straight into your tuna mixture without messing around with them (just make sure you're using the pitted variety). Alternatively, slice them in half or mince them into tiny pieces so they can be seamlessly blended into your dressing, creating pretty specks of salty flavor.

Feel free to layer up the flavors in your dressing so it can stand up to the intensity of your green olives. A squeeze of mustard, a dash of pickle juice, or a spritz of fresh lemon mixed into your mayo will create a complex binder to coat your halved green olives and flakes of tuna. However, you may prefer a vinaigrette-style dressing, combining a fruity oil with lemon juice, that has a lighter texture and brighter flavor to mimic the character of the olives. In this case, a handful of chopped cooked potatoes, or even boiled eggs, can lend your punchy tuna salad some welcome nuggets of subtle sweetness to tame the existing acidity. You could even use marinated olives, steeped in garlic, herbs, and chili flakes, or forego the heavy dressing altogether by using yogurt to lighten your tuna salad.

As green olives are a cured and fermented food (they're too bitter to eat directly from the tree unlike other berries), they have heaps of probiotic benefits, too. For example, they have a high concentration of a gut-friendly bacteria called Lactobacillus (also found in sauerkraut and kefir) that aids digestion and treats cholesterol.