GRILLED TUNA BROWN RICE SALAD

Creating more recipes that use fish has been a fun challenge for me. I have found myself loving tuna steaks and wanting to cook with them a couple times a week. This salad includes a small amount of brown rice, however you can omit the rice for a super light meal. Just make sure that without the rice you do not get hungry after dinner and snack on something else! 

Ingredients

Salad

• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 2 large handfuls of lettuce or baby spinach or mixed 
• 1 large tomato, thinly sliced
• 100g green beans, trimmed and chopped into small pieces
• 120g continental or Lebanese cucumber, diced
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• 30g reduced-fat feta, crumbled 
• 250g tuna steak, cut in half 
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil 
• aluminium foil 

Dressing

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 1 spring onion or 2 tablespoons fresh chives, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons water 

Cooking 

1. Bring the rice and 1 and a 1/4 cups of water to the boil, covered, then simmer for 8 minutes or until all water is absorbed and the rice is tender. Remove from heat. 

2. Meanwhile, prepare the salad by chopping and tossing the lettuce, tomato, beans, cucumber, spring onion and feta in a large serving bowl. 

3. Make the dressing by pouring all ingredients into a small bowl and stirring. 

4. Stir the tuna steak with the olive oil. Bring either a grill plate or a frying pan to high heat. Add the tuna and leave to cook for 2 minutes each side. After this rest the cooked tuna for 2 minutes wrapped loosely in the al foil. Once the 2 minutes are up, carefully slice the tuna. 

Add the brown rice and tuna to the salad and lightly toss. Drizzle the dressing on top and divide into 2 bowls. 

Serves / two 

Total Preparation & Cooking time / max 20 minutes 

x Emily 

SEARED TUNA with ASIAN GREENS

In my effort to eat more fish, tuna has become the star meat! I love how the taste of tuna steak is not the least bit fishy, especially when combined with Asian flavours. Here is my latest tuna creation; Seared Tuna Steak with Asian Greens. I really like adding edamame to stir frys, however if you are not a fan of soy beans or do not have access to them, you can use 1/2 a head of broccoli instead. I stress that everyone has different stove heatings and likes their tuna cooked differently, so cook it to your liking. In this recipe this tuna is cooked medium rare, not rare. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup brown rice 
• 2 tablespoons kecap manis
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 2cm fresh ginger, grated
• Optional- 5cm lemongrass, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil 
• 2 x 150-200g tuna steak
• 1/2 a bunch pak choy, end removed and roughly chopped
• 1/2 a bunch buk choy, end removed and roughly chopped
• Either 1/2 a head of broccoli, finely chopped into even sized florets OR 100g edamame beans, shelled (weighed after shelling)
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped, to serve 

COOKING 

1. Bring the brown rice and 1 cup of water to the boil in a small to medium saucepan over high heat, covered. Once boiled, reduce to a simmer and cook for around 10 minutes or until all water is absorbed and the rice is just tender. 

2. Meanwhile, pour the kecap manis, vinegar, lime juice, garlic, ginger, lemongrass if using and 2 tablespoons of water into a mug or small jug and stir to combine. Set aside near the stove. 

3. Heat the olive oil in a medium frying pan over medium heat, swirling to coat. Add the tuna steaks and cook for 2 minutes each side. After this time return the tuna to the original side and pour the sauce mixture from step 2 over the top of the tuna. Cook the tuna for 30 seconds each side, making sure to cover it with the sauce. Remove the tuna from the pan, leaving the sauce in the pan and placing the cooked tuna onto your serving plates. 

4. Add the pak choy, buk choy and broccoli or edamame to the pan and cook, stirring often so that the sauce does not stick to the pan, for 3-5 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Remove from heat. 

Serve each tuna steak with half of the vegetable sauce mixture and half of the rice. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of sesame seeds and half of the chopped spring onions on top of each dish. 

Serves / 2 

Total Preparation time / max 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / max 15 minutes 

x Emily 

TUNA STEAKS with STEAMED CORN & SALAD

A client recommended the 'Ocean Chef' brand of frozen fish to me recently, available at Woolworths supermarkets. In an effort to introduce fish into my diet (and having not been a fan of seafood for most of my life!) I decided that it was time to bite the bullet and make some fish meals. Tuna is a great source of protein, is rich in omega 3 fatty acids and is available for Pestacarians to eat! The Yellowfin Skinless Tuna Steaks that I used are often on sale, as are the other types of frozen fish from Ocean Chef, and feature 8 steaks to a pack, 1 per single serving, hence they are very reasonably priced. I was very pleasantly surprised by how delicious the tuna steak was and how easy and quick it was to cook. You can add any healthy sides that you would like to your tuna steak, I have listed my two accompaniments below. 

INGREDIENTS

Tuna Steaks 

• 2 similar sized (in thickness and weight) frozen or fresh tuna steaks, completely thawed if frozen
• paper towel
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, crushed or finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons shallots, finely chopped

Steamed corn 

• 2 corn cobs, hulks and silks removed and cut into even rounds
• ground black pepper 
• Optional - fresh herbs, such as chives or basil, finely chopped 

Basic Salad

• a generous handful of washed mixed lettuce 
• 1/2 a small avocado, diced 
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 1/2 a lebanese cucumber or 1/4 of a continental cucumber, diced 
• 20g reduced-fat feta, crumbled 

COOKING 

1. Wash & rinse the tuna steaks, then pat dry with paper towel. 

2. Brush the tuna steaks with olive oil, then combine the remaining steak ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over the steaks and place in the fridge to marinate for a minimum of 15 minutes and a maximum of 1 hour. 

3. Meanwhile, make the steamed corn by bringing a medium saucepan filled halfway with water to the boil. Add the corn rounds and steam for 5 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat and drain well with cold water, then dry well and toss with ground black pepper & fresh chives, if using. 

4. Whilst the corn is steaming make the basic salad by combining all the ingredients and tossing well. 

5. Once the steaks have marinated for over 15 minutes, warm a grill plate over medium heat and cook the steaks for 2-3 minutes on each side or until the fish starts to flake when tested with a fork. You want the tuna to still be pink in the middle. I like tuna quite pink in the middle, hence if you do not, leave it on the grill/in the pan for longer! 

**NB: If you do not have a grill plate, you may pan-fry the tuna steak by cooking them over medium heat in a medium frying pan, for 2-3 minutes each side, turning the steak over once during cooking. You can test if the tuna is cooked by using the same fork method as above.  

6. Arrange the 1 steamed corn,1/2 of the salad and a tuna steak on a plate. Serve warm. 

Serves / 2 

Total Preparation time & Cooking time / minimum of 20 minutes (based on a 15 minute marinating time) 

x Emily