Tuna out of a can smells like cat food to me but hey it's one of the best proteins you can get and low fat. All food is good but some well quite frankly tastes horrible but there is a way to tone down or over power those less appealing notes of a flavour. Here?s a tip don't like a tuna sandwich? well load it with sliced beetroot (lot?s of goodness in one hit) or pickled red cabbage. Back to the recipe though there are a few extra flavours here to help make the tuna taste great.
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Salsa The first job is to remove the skins from the tomatoes, you will need a sharp knife and two bowls of water one boiling and the other cold. If the tomatoes are just ripe you may need to leave in the boiling water longer than ten seconds if overripe then it may be more like eight seconds. You are trying to achieve a peeled tomato that is not mushy and the flesh is still firm.
Using a sharp knife score a cross onto the bottom of each tomato then fill a small bowl with boiling water from the kettle and plunge the tomatoes into boiling water for 10 seconds. Remove and drop into a bowl of cold water leave for a couple of minutes and then remove the skins. They should come off easily. Cut the tomato in half laterally that is through the middle and not from the top to the bottom. Then take a dessert spoon and scoop out the core and the pips. Lay the tomato down on a chopping board and cut into a small dice about ½ cm square.
Finely chop the garlic, onion and chilli then mix all together with a squirt of lime juice. Shred the basil leaves and mix these in also. Taste add a little salt and pepper if needed and if your salsa is too zingy or sharp for your taste mix in a little caster sugar.
Burgers Open the cans and drain the brine off. Rinse the chick peas in cold running water.
Put the chick peas in a food processor with the chopped onion and process using the pulse to a rough mix. Add the rest of the ingredients and process further but let the blade run this time.
Don?t allow the mixture to turn to a smooth mix though so be quick or take your time and pulse it. If your mix is too wet and runny then add a tablespoon of flour or oats or breadcrumbs to firm the mix up.
Turn out the mixture onto a floured work surface and shape into burgers. Remember to flour your hands so they don't stick to the mix. Use a palette knife or a table knife to straighten the sides.
Fry in oil browning lightly on both sides, cooking for about ten minutes. Serve with fresh lime on a bed of fresh tomato, red onion and basil salsa.
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