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The Vegan Substitute You Never Thought To Use For Tuna Steak

Column: industry Tag: Vegan Alternatives,Plant-Based Seafood,Watermelon Tuna,Vegan Protein Sources Published: 2024-08-09 09:11 Source: www.mashed.com Author: MARIA SCINTO

While some fast food chains offer vegan burgers, vegan fish sandwiches haven't caught on to quite such an extent. Red Lobster also doesn't have plant-based seafood substitutes on its menu. There are some foods that make surprisingly good stand-ins for fish, though — not just tofu, but certain types of produce, including carrots, jackfruit, and banana blossoms. To that list, add yet another unexpected item: watermelon. Believe it or not, sliced, seasoned, and grilled watermelon tastes not entirely unlike tuna.

The trick to turning watermelon into faux fish lies not just in the seasoning, although rice vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce go a long way toward disguising the fruit flavor. Baking it for an hour, though, dries out this extra-moist fruit and gives it a texture that really is fairly fish-like. Adding to the verisimilitude is the color since marinated, cooked watermelon turns a deeper and less translucent shade of pink that actually does resemble either tuna.

If watermelon tuna's your main course, add protein-heavy sides

While watermelon is rich in vitamin C and provides vitamins A, B5, and potassium, it's pretty light on protein. One cup of watermelon has less than 1 gram of this nutrient. The recommended intake for a given day is about a gram of protein for every 3 pounds of body weight. This means if you weigh 150 pounds, you should aim for 50 grams of protein per day and watermelon's unlikely to get you there. We're not saying you can't use watermelon as a vegan tuna steak replacement (especially since we just told you that you could), but you will need to get your protein from other sources.

One way to add plenty of protein to your meal would be with a bowl of black bean soup, as this will provide nearly 15 grams of the stuff. White bean and pesto salad could give you over 14 grams of protein, and with red lentil curry, you get 16 grams per serving. Mix in a serving of salt and pepper tofu, and you'll add more than 25 grams of protein to your meal.

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