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I never pass the fish and seafood in the store without seeing if something’s on the fire sale. $9 OFF a pound is a fire sale for fresh tuna. It means they have to get rid of it that day, preferably immediately. I’m willing to eat that tuna. I’m happy to run home and cook it straight away. This is a typically summer meal, but you can squeeze it in for Friday Fish this month if your’e dreaming.
We’re in the last week of Lent; Palm/Passion Sunday was last Sunday and that means Easter’s on its way. I’m always amazing how Lent takes us from the dredges of winter to the cusp of spring, and sometimes mixes it all up in one day. Just about how my life sometimes goes, I think, and maybe yours, too. Here’s Holy Monday and Tuesday’s single post from my Lenten blog, Praying in Saint Paul and here’s Holy Wednesday’s. You can check out the rest of the week’s posts by going to the upper left-hand corner of the black bar at the top and clicking on Sidebar or if CLASSIC is up, click on that and then click on Sidebar in the menu.
Anyway, here’s what I did with that sale tuna–and what you might do, too, on Good Friday if that’s part of your faith tradition. Otherwise, save it for that first warm day. What I did was all dependent on what I had in the fridge and on the counter after a visit to the market …
grilled tuna salad with vegetables &
spicy lemon-basil vinaigrette
serves 4
The vegetables for this salad are grilled (inside or out), but could also be oven-roasted for 20-30 minutes or so at 400 degrees F. No matter how you cook it, you’re eating quickly and happily.
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
- 1 medium eggplant, peeled, and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 2 small zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch rounds or lengthwise into1/4″ thick slices
- 2 3/4-inch slices of a very large yellow onion
- 2 6-8 ounce thick tuna steaks
- 1/2 cup each cherry tomatoes and boccocini (small mozzarella balls)–about 12 each
- 2 cups fresh spinach leaves
- 1/4 cup Nicoise or kalamata olives
- Juice of half-lemon
- Spicy Lemon-Basil Vinaigrette (recipe below)
Preheat indoor or outdoor grill over medium-high heat. Brush eggplant, zucchini, and onion with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Grill about 8 minutes, turning once at mid-point. Remove to a plate and set aside. After a few minutes, slice into one-inch pieces.
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Brush tuna with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill 2 minutes on one side until there are dark grill marks; turn and grill other side about 2 minutes for medium rare – rare, depending on the thickness of the tuna. Cook another minute or two for medium-well. Remove and let rest 1-2 minutes. Cut into one-inch chunks.
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To a large bowl, add tomatoes and boccocini (small mozzarella balls), spinach, olives, and sliced eggplant, zucchini, and onions. Stir gently and drizzle with a bit of lemon juice; add tuna and stir again. Drizzle with remainder of lemon juice and then generously with vinaigrette. Divide between four pasta or shallow bowls, placing cherry tomatoes in one section, cheese in another, and so on. Garnish with olives and reserved basil julienne. Serve warm or at room temperature.
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Cook’s Note 1. If you’ve a large enough grill, grill the vegetables and add the tuna during the last few minutes. I made this on a big cast iron indoor grill that covers two burners (Lodge), but it still wasn’t big enough for everything. Add to that, I’m only an indoor griller and like things in manageable batches. I leave the big gas or charcoal grill to Dave or whomever I can lasso into firing it up. 2. If you’d like a bit heartier salad, stir in a 15-ounce can of drained cannellini beans (season first pepper and with a bit of the vinaigrette) along with the grilled vegetables.
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spicy lemon-basil vinaigrette
- 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- generous pinch crushed red pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon each kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
- 2 tablespoons shallot or red onion, sliced
- 3 tablespoons basil julienne, divided
- 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
In a medium bowl, whisk together lemon juice, spices, mustard, shallot, and two tablespoons basil. Slowly add the olive oil, whisking all the while, until vinaigrette is well mixed and emulsified. Taste and adjust seasonings. (Rest of basil is for garnish)
Wine: Go American and drink a great big California Chardonnay or an Oregon Pinot Noir.
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Note: Recipe previously posted on this blog August, 2013.
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Sing a new song; make a new salad,
Alyce
, then back to 40F with nasty freezing rain. While we have about one gray day a year, it’s here as I write today. My good friend Roberta is visiting from the Twin Cities and I know she came for spring sunshine walks
with our puppies. Instead she’s practicing her Bach on my piano in the living room and the dogs are in jail with wet feet from their fast foray out into the wetlands.
