A Dinner Worth Sharing

This will be a short and sweet post, but I just have to share tonight's dinner:

Grilled salmon* for me (steak for Hubs), steamed broccoli and twice baked potatoes.

*I know I said last week that we're not fans of salmon, but I actually do like it okay if I'm in the right mood for it. Also, we had a bag of it in the freezer that needed to be eaten.

I seriously loved this meal. It was pretty darn simple to make and totally satisfying. The twice baked potatoes were definitely the star of the show!

I've made twice baked potatoes before, but I was reminded of them recently when reading Yes I Want Cake's post on them.
I made them the same way as she did so check out her blog for the deets. Definitely adding twice baked potatoes back into the regular rotation!

And if you're wondering about the salmon, it was simply seasoned with jerk seasoning and then grilled on a piece of foil (so it doesn't fall through the grate) for about 10 minutes.

Now I'm off to hang out with these two:

Have a great night!

YBBC - Day 5

Friday was partially spent out of town too so I definitely deviated from the plan a lot. I tried to still make smart decisions though!

Here's what the plan called for (I don't know why I'm even posting this since I basically didn't follow it at all):
And here's how things went down...

BREAKFAST
I ate breakfast at the free continental breakfast at the hotel. I toasted a piece of multigrain bread and topped it with 1 Tbsp peanut butter, sliced banana and a drizzle of honey.


MORNING SNACK:

None.


LUNCH
I stopped at a place called Pita Jungle in Tucson and got the Veggie Garden Wrap.
It was delicious, packed full of veggies and the size of my arm! I ate half of it for lunch and the other half later for a snack.


AFTERNOON SNACK

Like I said above, I ate the rest of my pita lunch for a snack.


DINNER
Steamed Fish with Pesto & Veggies and brown rice on the side.
I pretty much followed the recipe linked above exactly, except that I used mahi-mahi instead of snapper and I added cherry tomatoes to the foil packets.

Unfortunately I just wasn't feeling fish that night (Alex liked it though!), so I actually only took a few bites of this dinner and then abandoned it in favor of this:

Special K cereal with sliced banana and almond milk....yum! Totally hit the spot. Sometimes you just gotta go with what sounds good!


FITNESS

Rest day....again. Ooops!

90 Degree Comfort Food

Tonight's meal was very Fall-ish.

Which kind of feels like blasphemy when the weather outside is still in the 90's everyday.

But, BUT, the weather has recently transitioned in low 90's instead of high 90's (or 100's)!! Here in Texas that's basically Fall. So that called for some Fall-like food.

Pumpkin Chili!!

This recipe was given to me by one of my friends and I knew I wanted to make it immediately. Pumpkin + Chili just sounds comforting.

Pumpkin Chili

Source: unknown

• 2 pounds ground beef (1 lb ground beef & 1 lb ground turkey breast)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained
• 1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice
• 1 (28 ounce) can peeled and diced tomatoes with juice
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 cup white sugar

In a large pot over medium heat, cook meat until brown; drain. Stir in onion and bell pepper and cook 5 minutes. Stir in beans, tomato juice, diced tomatoes and pumpkin puree. Season with pumpkin pie spice, chili powder and sugar. Simmer 1 hour. Makes 8 servings.

We served it with cornbread on the side and topped with cheese, avocado & plain greek yogurt.

Alex's only complaint with this chili was that it wasn't spicy, but he just added hot sauce to his portion and was happy. It makes a TON of chili, so I plan on freezing smaller portions of it for reheating later. Chili is very freezer-friendly!

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Rewind to last night now. Last night's dinner was a recipe I spotted on one of my favorite blogs, Carrots 'n Cake.

Soy Glazed Fish with Sauteed Summer Squash (click link for recipe from Real Simple)

It was pretty good. My only real complaint with it is that the excess sauce on the pan BURNED (badly) while cooking. Next time I know not to dump all the sauce on the fish....just enough to coat it.

Also be sure you follow the directions and only add the sauce in the last 2 minutes of cooking...I ended up cooking my fish for about 4 more minutes after adding the sauce (because it wasn't done) which probably contributed to the burning of the sauce.

OH! And big news: Alex, Mr. I Hate Squash, actually admitted that the squash side dish wasn't half bad. Hellz yeah!

Anyone else watch the premiere of Biggest Loser? What did you think?

Personally I kind of liked the new way they "tested" contestants and made them earn their spots. I thought it weeded out the quitters and cop-outs, which is nice. My current favorite contestant is obviously the military wife...I can't remember her name. We shall see how the season plays out!

P.S. Grrrrrr I am really hating Blogger these days. I don't know WHY it keeps f-ing with my font sizes but it pisses me off! I can't even fix it because it shows up just fine in my window but then I hit "publish" and it freaks out. SO ANNOYING. Anyway, sorry about the randomly changing font sizes...

Obstacles Are Made to Be Overcome

Obstacles aint got NOTHIN' on me.

My plans for a late-summer dinner on the outdoor grill got blown out the window today. (pun intended)

Thanks a lot, Tropical Depression Hermine!

But, being the resilient Army wife that I am, I rolled with the punches and changed my plans.

Indoor grill pan it is!

Then, as I'm lovingly preparing the spice rub for this dish and trying to get the perfect photo of the pretty spices in a bowl, I dropped it. Approximately five seconds after this lovely photo was taken:

You'd never know that disaster was about to strike immediately following snapping this photo!

I was so upset that I dropped the bowl of spices and they went a-flyin' across the kitchen floor that I neglected to snap a photo of the disaster aftermath, but trust me, it was a mess!

So I did what any strong and independent woman would do: yelled a curse word and stomped my feet and then watched as my husband swept it all up for me.

Go me!

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Spice Rubbed Mahi Mahi

Source

For the Fish
2 mahi-mahi fillets
Extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp black pepper
sprinkle of salt

1. Mix the coriander, cumin, paprika, onion powder, black pepper, and salt together. Rub the mahi-mahi fillets with a good drizzle of olive oil and the seasoning mix, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2. Grill fish over medium heat for about 5-7 minutes on each side, until cooked through.

3. Serve with salsa on top.

For the salsa I used this:

And doctored it up a little with fresh avocado chunks and chopped red onion.

Yum Yum!

Dinner was served with a side of brussel sprouts (see below for recipe) and steamed potato with buttah & salt & pepper.

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Then another obstacle rose up in front of me: The skies were dark and stormy. A.K.A. Not blogger-photo-friendly.

Don't worry though, I got this:

A.K.A. A husband who begrudgingly holds my plate for me as I try to get it at exactly the right angle to get acceptable light in my dungeon of a kitchen. Love him! And doesn't he look so happy to do it for me?!

Obstacle #....4?....of the night: My husband's hatred of brussel sprouts.

I think my husband literally WHIMPERED when he looked in the pan and saw those babies simmering away. For some reason he was CONVINCED that he hated brussel sprouts. Convinced.

So I did what any loving, caring wife would do and made them anyway and told him to suck it up.

And guess what? He LIKED them. He freaking LIKED them!

Apparently the only brussel sprouts he had ever eaten were in a cafeteria setting so that's what he was judging his hatred on. Um....okay.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Husband-Friendly Brussel Sprouts with Tomatoes

Source: Me

1 tsp olive oil

2 cups brussel sprouts, ends cut off and sliced in half

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

2 roma tomatoes, chopped

salt & pepper, to taste

drizzle of rice vinegar

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add brussel sprouts and cook for about 5 minutes until the sprouts start to get browned a bit. Add chicken broth, garlic and tomatoes to the pan and then cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Let steam/simmer for about 10 minutes, until brussel sprouts are tender and cooked, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper and a drizzle of rice vinegar and serve.

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All this dominating of obstacles made me feel a little anxious, but I overcame that feeling pretty quickly when I poured myself a glass of this:

Yep, that would be a ginormous glass of white wine. Ahhh....much better.

Obstacles are made to be overcome. Bring it on, Army, life, or whatever!

Does your significant other dislike certain foods? Obviously the answer for me is no longer brussel sprouts. I'm still working on getting him to like asparagus though....that one is harder to break!

and

What obstacles have you overcome lately? See above for my answers. :)

Mahi and Bone Marrow Donating.

Odd title, no? Keep reading to the end to see why.

Another delicious dinner from the pages of my latest issue of Cooking Light magazine! This was the meal that we were supposed to have yesterday, but ended up postponing until tonight. I'm so glad we got around to making it!

What's for Dinner? 7/28/2010
-MahiMahi with Bacon-Tomato Butter
-Sauteed Spinach with Garlic
-A tiny bit of leftover brown rice

This one caught my eye because it had the words "bacon" and "butter" in the title. I bookmarked that baby faster than you can say "MahiMahi".

And it sure did not disappoint. But when would bacon and butter combined in a dish EVER disappoint?!

Yummmmm.

Although the bacon-tomato butter was AWESOME, I also have to say that I think mahimahi may just be my new favorite fish. It's meaty and not too fishy tasting and also pretty darn cheap {HUGE bonus}!


We made the recipe pretty much exactly how it's written {other than tossing in an extra slice of bacon because we're baconaholics...oops} so I'll just link to the recipe:

Mahimahi with Bacon-Tomato Butter {click the link for the recipe}

The sauteed spinach was delicious and very simple to make as well. Here's a quick rundown of how I did it:

Sauteed Spinach with Garlic & Lemon
Source: me

1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 large bag of baby spinach
Juice from half of a lemon
S&P

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook garlic in the hot oil for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently so it doesn't burn. Then add in all the spinach {or as much as will fit in the pan and then add the rest later as it starts to wilt} and let cook for a minute or two. Using tongs, toss the spinach so that the leaves at the top get down to the heat. Add the lemon juice and S&P and continue tossing until all the spinach is wilted{about 4 minutes}. Immediately remove the spinach from the pan so it stops cooking and serve.


Now I'm off to pack and finish up laundry! Hubs and I are headed back to my family's ranch tomorrow after work. I'm sooooooooooo ready for some R&R after a crazy couple of weeks!

Although I don't know how relaxing it will actually be, since it will be like a mini family reunion with 35 members of my dad's side of the family.

There will also be one very special guest at the ranch: My 15 year old cousin's bone marrow donor.

My cousin, Thomas, was diagnosed with Leukemia when he was 13. It was an extremely rough road but eventually he was matched with a donor and received a bone marrow transplant. That transplant saved his life and he is now in remission.

This trip will be the first time for all of us (including Thomas) to meet this person who so selflessly donated his marrow to save my cousin's life. It turns out he's a 22 year old college student...I don't know about you but I sure wasn't thinking about donating bone marrow when I was in college!

We feel so blessed that this person came into our lives and we are SO excited to spend a weekend with him, surrounded by the people who care the most for Thomas.

I'm planning on updating from the ranch on occasion but we'll see if that happens! It seems like all my plans always go out the window when we're there.

Question of the Day: Are you in the bone marrow registry? It's the simplest process ever! All you have to do is take a quick swab of the inside of your mouth and then BAM...you're in the registry and could potentially save someone's life.

Scared of the donation part? It's a simple, non-surgical procedure in which patients usually can go home the same day. I admit I don't know that much about it firsthand {from the donor's perspective} but I plan on asking Thomas' donor ALL about it this weekend. I'll be sure to report back. Here's a link that answers a lot of "myths" about donating though so check it out!

Now go order your kit!!! :)

UPDATE: I just realized that my link to the marrow registry website was actually linking to the recipe...OOPS! :) I fixed it now so you should be able to get to the right place.

UPDATE #2: I was also just reading more about the registry and found this regarding U.S. Military personnel (and their dependents) who wish to join the registry:

U.S. military personnel are asked to register for the Be The Match Registry through the Department of Defense (DoD) using one of these options below. Military personnel is defined as active duty U.S. military personnel and their dependents, reservists, retirees, National Guard, Coast Guard and DoD civilian personnel.
Attend a DoD donor drive
Call 1-800-MARROW-3
Visit a walk-in registration center

I work for the DoD (as a civilian) so I signed up when they had a donor drive at my office one day. It was so easy! All I did was walk down the hall, take my swab, fill out a form, and voila!

For more info on military pesonnel who are interested in becoming a donor go here.

Double Duty

What's for Dinner? 7/21/2010
-Asian Salmon
-Sesame Sauteed Snap Peas
-Brown Rice

Sometimes things just work out the way they should.

For example, when you buy too much salmon for just two people on accident and end up stumbling across a recipe that is perfect for freezing.

The problem began when I asked the lady at the seafood counter for 2-3 servings worth of salmon. Somehow that translated into 1.6 pounds and enough for at least 4 servings....uhhhh okay then. Time to figure out something to do with extra salmon!

I knew I wanted to make the salmon Asiany {shut up, spellcheck...it's a word!} but I didn't have a recipe pinned down. When I got home from work I typed "Asian Salmon" into the Googster and a recipe popped up that looked good and required very few ingredients {all of which I had on hand}.

As I started reading over it I realized that not only was it perfect for tonight, but it also was perfect for freezing and eating later. SCORE. This recipe could pull double duty!

Freezer salmon getting ready to be put in the freezer and tonight salmon getting all flavory {also a word}.

Getting ready to go to the oven.


As the salmon baked I cooked some brown rice and sauteed some snap peas for side dishes.


And here's the finished product! Aint she a beaut?!? It tasted great too! Alex and I aren't huge salmon fans so we were a little apprehensive about how we would like this but we both gave it two thumbs up!



Asian Salmon
Source: Joelen's Culinary Adventures
My changes in purple.

4 salmon fillets, skinless {ours had skins...no biggie} and deboned
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons good soy sauce
6 tablespoons good olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 stalk green onion, sliced for garnish
{I upped the amounts of the dijon, soy sauce, & olive oil a tiny bit so I would have enough for the freezer salmon and the tonight salmon...we like lots of sauce}

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper {we used foil}; set aside.

Whisk together the mustard, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic in a small bowl. Drizzle half of the marinade onto the salmon and allow it to sit for 10 minutes.

Place marinated fish on parchment lined baking sheet and bake in the preheated oven for 5-7 minutes {I baked for closer to 10 minutes and it was still a little on the rare side}. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 2-5 minutes. before serving. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve.

* To make ahead/freezer meal - Whisk together the mustard, soy sauce, olive oil, and garlic in a small bowl. Pour marinade in a quart size freezer bag and add the salmon fillets. Seal and freeze. When ready to prepare, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place salmon on baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5-7 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 2-5 minutes. before serving. Garnish with sliced green onions and serve.


Sesame Sauteed Snap Peas
Source: Me

1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 cups of fresh snap peas
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds

Heat sesame oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add snap peas to the pan and stir fry for about 3 minutes. Then add the garlic, ginger & soy sauce to the pan and continue to stir fry for about 3 more minutes. Sprinkle sesame seeds on the peas and then remove from heat. Serve.

Bowl of Seafoody Comfort Food

Recently I mentioned in passing that my father-in-law made a delicious seafood dinner for us when he was visiting. At the time I forgot to take a picture but tonight we were craving seafood so we decided to make it again and do the dish justice with some photos.




Holy bowl of deliciousness!! It was just as good as we remembered and this may very well be our favorite new meal. It's also really, really simple to make and can be tweaked to your liking very easily. The official name for it is Cioppino but I like to call it Garlicky Tomato Seafood Pot. You can really use whatever seafood you like but ours had King crab legs, mahi-mahi, mussels and shrimp. Calamari would be really good in it too but they didn't have it at our grocery store.

Garlicky Tomato Seafood Pot
Inspired by this recipe for cioppino

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp minced garlic
2 mahi-mahi filets
1/2 lb peeled shrimp
1 lb mussels
1 26 oz jar marinara sauce of your choice {we like the garlic & basil flavor best for this dish}
1/3 cup white wine
4 King crab legs
Crusty bread for dipping

Heat one tablespoon of olive oil and one tablespoon of minced garlic to a large pot and heat on medium-high. Cook for about 1 minute. Add fish, shrimp and mussels to the pot and cook until the mussel shells open. Pour in the marinara sauce and white wine. Add the crab legs to the pot, cover and simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Transfer to bowls and serve with lots of crusty bread for soaking up the sauce!

Serves 2 {you could easily make it stretch for more than 2 people but if you did I would buy enough crab legs for each person to have 2}

Weekend Recap

This weekend has been fun but also super busy! But first let's start where we left off:

Thursday night was another Fajita Bowl night because we just weren't feeling up to doing any real cooking and we still had plenty of fajita meat to eat through. I think we're finally almost done with the fajitas though! :)



Friday night Alex's parents came into town to stay with us so we cooked up a nice meal:

-Grilled Mahi Mahi with Basil Lime Butter
-Chickpea Panzanella with Capers
-Whole Wheat Orzo


It was a light and summery meal that we all really enjoyed.

I got inspiration for the fish recipe from this Cooking Light recipe for Grilled Grouper with Basil Lime Pistou. However, we subbed Mahi Mahi for the grouper and also ended up subbing butter for the olive oil because we ran out. The basil lime butter was delicious and added just enough zing to the fish.

Here's the link to the Chickpea Panzanella with Capers salad which was a BIG hit with everyone. The only change we made was to sub baby spinach for arugula, because that's what we had on hand.

Saturday we all headed to Austin for Alex's cousin's wedding. My camera battery was dead {which I didn't realize until I went to turn it on} so I got zero pictures but they served BBQ at the wedding. We all probably drank a bit too much but it was fun night and I enjoyed getting to know some of Alex's family better!

Sunday This morning we had breakfast at one of my favorite Austin restaurants, Kerbey Lane Cafe. If you're ever in Austin I highly recommend you eat at this local haunt. It's nothing fancy, but it's super delicious and open 24 hours. I got the Mushroom, Artichoke & Spinach Omelet with Raspberry Pancakes which were both SO GOOD. I'm totally planning on recreating that omelet at home...mmmm!

Puttanesca Please

What's for Dinner? 6/13/2010

-Grouper with Puttanesca Sauce
-Whole wheat orzo

Grouper was on sale at the grosh {grocery store} this week so we snatched some up for $7.29/pound {which is still kinda expensive by our standards but we decided it was worth it}.

I did a quick search for "grouper" on CookingLight.com and this recipe for Grouper with Puttanesca Sauce popped up and sounded too good to be true. I looooooove puttanesca sauce! It's salty and acidic and has a little kick to it. Have you ever had Pasta Puttanesca at an Italian restaurant? If not, I highly recommend you do. It's delicious!

Anyway, back to the fish. This dish was very tasty! So far I have loved every fish recipe that we've tried that had a tomato-based sauce on top of it so it must be a fail-proof combo!

If you're not a fish fan, this sauce would also be great served with some crumbled Italian sausage and pasta.



Grouper with Puttanesca Sauce
Source: CookingLight.com

Keep your pantry stocked with the sauce ingredients to make this dish anytime. Serve with orzo to soak up the sauce.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet, 3/4 cup tomato mixture, and 1 tablespoon chopped parsley)


4 (6-ounce) grouper or flounder fillets
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 cup thinly sliced onion
1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1 (28-ounce) can whole tomatoes, drained
1/3 cup chopped pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons capers
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley (optional)

Heat a nonstick grill pan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add fish to pan; cook 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

While fish cooks, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic, oregano, and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in olives and capers; cook 1 minute. Spoon tomato mixture over fish. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, if desired.


CALORIES 238 (18% from fat); FAT 4.8g (sat 0.8g,mono 2.5g,poly 0.8g); IRON 2.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 63mg; CALCIUM 142mg; CARBOHYDRATE 12g; SODIUM 736mg; PROTEIN 35.5g; FIBER 1.5g

Cooking Light, JULY 2004

{I didn't post last night because we went out to dinner for a last minute date night at BJ's Brewery. I enjoyed a beer and the grilled shrimp tacos with steamed veggies instead of chips. Then I asked {forced} Alex to take me to the fro-yo place. I got my "usual" which is cheesecake/strawberry swirl with fresh raspberries and mini chocolate chips. YUM!}

Healthy Paula Deen...Say WHAT?!?..

When Alex went to the grocery store yesterday, I asked him to pick up some fresh fish for tonight's dinner. I didn't have any other ideas in mind besides that I wanted fish. {Normally we do try to menu plan and shop on the weekend but I was out of town all weekend and on Monday/Tuesday so this week is a fly by the seat of our pants kinda thing.}

He chose Mahi Mahi, which I was really excited about because I think it's a delicious fish! I knew we had to find a recipe that would really let the fish shine.

Then, my crazy day at work happened and I ran out of time to even think about how to cook the fish and ended up working late. Luckily my wonderful husband stepped in and found a recipe for Mahi Mahi Lettuce Wraps on foodnetwork.com. He stopped by the store for a few ingredients on the way home from work and then cooked it all himself.


And it was finger-lickin' good! Seriously we were both licking our plates to get every last remnant of it in our bellies.

The big shocker? It's a Paula Dean recipe. Let me repeat that...this healthy, light, butter-free recipe belongs to Paula Deen. WHAT?!? I'm still in shock over this fact.


What's for Dinner? 6/9/2010

-Mahi Mahi Lettuce Wraps
-Guacamole & Chips


Mahi Mahi Lettuce Wraps

Source: Paula Deen on Food Network

Prep Time: 5 min
Inactive Prep Time: 5 min
Cook Time: 8 min

Serves: 2 servings

Ingredients

* 1 mango, diced
* 2 plum tomatoes, diced
* 1 red onion, diced
* 1/2 jalapenos, diced
* 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
* 2 limes, juiced
* Salt and pepper
* 2 mahi mahi fillets
* Olive oil, as needed
* Lettuce leaves (recommended butter or romaine)

Directions

Preheat grill or grill pan to medium-high heat.

Combine the mango, tomatoes, jalapeno, cilantro and lime juice in a medium mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Season the fish with salt and pepper and brush with olive oil. Grill for roughly 3 to 4 minutes per side, until just opaque in the center. Set aside to cool

When slightly cool, chop into large chunks. Add to the reserved salsa and fold carefully as to not break up the fish. Add mixture to the middle of the lettuce leaves and roll.

Kick the Canned {Tuna}

What's for Dinner? 5/27/2010

-Seared Sesame Tuna Steaks with Orange Sauce
-Steamed Broccoli
-Leftover Brown Rice & Black Beans

Recently the hubs and I discovered a mutual love of all things tuna {and I'm not talking about the canned kind here}. We order it every chance we can get at restaurants but we had never cooked with it before.

We found some awesome flash-frozen, vacuum-packed yellowfin tuna steaks at the grocery store that we immediately snatched up. Then the search for recipes began and I, of course, went to my old faithful CookingLight.com. This recipe popped up in the search results and I decided it was definitely worth trying.


Our first attempt at cooking seared tuna was a SUCCESS! This dish was so perfect and tasted just like something we could have ordered from a fancy schmancy restaurant. The sauce was very Asian in flavor which went great with the tuna.

Our steaks were quite a bit thicker than the recipe called for so we did have to cook them for longer than called for. And in case you didn't know, seared tuna should be served rare! Don't overcook it!

If you've never tried non-canned tuna before, I encourage you to give it a shot. It's a really delicious, meaty fish and doesn't taste "fishy" at all. It's even good raw...although we always leave that up to professional chefs in restaurants! ;)

Seared Sesame Tuna with Orange Sauce
Source: Cooking Light

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 steak, about 1/2 cup of couscous, and 2 1/2 tablespoons of sauce)

1 cup water {Omitted}
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided {Omitted}
2/3 cup uncooked couscous {Omitted}
Cooking spray
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 (6-ounce) Bluefin tuna steaks (about 3/4 inch thick) {ours were quite a bit thicker}
1/2 cup fresh orange juice (about 2 oranges) {we subbed orange juice from a carton}
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons cornstarch

Bring 1 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a medium saucepan; gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. {Omitted all this}

While the couscous stands, heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Combine the sesame seeds, flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and black pepper. Dredge both sides of tuna steaks in the sesame seed mixture. Add the fish to pan, and cook 4 minutes on each side or until desired degree of doneness. Remove the fish from pan, and keep warm. {Our fish was thicker so required about double the cooking time}

While the fish cooks, combine the orange juice and the next 5 ingredients (orange juice through garlic) in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Combine 1 tablespoon water and cornstarch, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add the cornstarch mixture to the pan, and cook for 2 minutes or until the sauce is thickened, stirring frequently. Serve the fish with the couscous and sauce.


CALORIES 460 (28% from fat); FAT 14.3g (sat 3g,mono 4.1g,poly 4.9g); IRON 3.6mg; CHOLESTEROL 65mg; CALCIUM 118mg; CARBOHYDRATE 35.2g; SODIUM 513mg; PROTEIN 45.7g; FIBER 1.6g

Cooking Light, MARCH 2003