Originating in 1930’s New York City, the combination of bagel, lox, and shmear is one of the most popular forms of bagel consumption in America . A delightful union of smoky fish, luxurious cream cheese, fresh veggies, and chewy bread, it’s the ultimate streetside morning meal. But, smoked salmon isn’t something that’s always easily attainable.

So, sometimes an accessible alternative is necessary to hit the spot-- like, say, Bumble Bee® Tuna. And, with a little bit of preparation, a pouch of Bumble Bee Tuna can be turned into a tuna salad recipe that’ll check the marks of any good bagel sandwich filling.

Start by prepping the veggies. For the tuna salad, slice a small red onion into rings, making sure to save some of these for sandwich garnishing. Finely chop two stalks of celery and roughly one tablespoon of chives. Then, zest a lemon, and juice it. For further garnishing, slice a beef steak tomato and a hothouse English cucumber. After that, put the knife down and grab a mixing bowl.

Drain a pouch of Bumble Bee® Lemon & Pepper Tuna, and break down its contents into flakey bits. Add half a cup of both mayo and crème fraîche, most of the onions, the celery, chives, a ¼ teaspoon of celery seed and both the lemon zest and juice. Mix these together until everything has been consolidated into a smooth, creamy amalgamation.

Split the bagels, and stack a couple pieces of cucumbers, a slice of the tomato, and a healthy scoop of the tuna salad. Finish it off with a couple slices of the onion to add some snap to each bite, and a teaspoon of capers to cut through the mayo. 

The best part about this is that, once the tuna salad is made, this becomes a morning routine that takes a total of, maybe, five minutes. And for a meal in which time is usually of the utmost importance, it’s hard to beat that type of breakfast prep time.

So skip the bagel shop, get in the kitchen for a couple minutes, and you may never go back.