First Attempt at Tuna...Not Too Shabby

Last night I cooked seared tuna for the first time, and I have to admit, I am pretty proud of myself! I found tuna steaks on quick sale at the grocery store (they were about to expire), so I got them for about half of what they usually cost. Looking at quick sale meat items is a great way to save, especially on the seafood and meats that might normally be too pricey. I bought the tuna and some salmon, and put them in my freezer.

So, last night, I figured I would try the tuna. Now, when most of you think of tuna, you imagine canned tuna, which is great for sandwiches, but nothing special. Tuna steaks are really good, and far from the flavor you might be accustomed to with canned tuna.


To flavor the tuna, I decided I would make a marinade, which was pretty tasty, I just didn't have time to let it marinade very long, so it did not soak in the flavors as much as I would have liked. For the marinade, I figured some Asian flavors would give it a nice taste. So, for the first time, I bought fresh ginger (pictured above). It is kind of ugly, but has such wonderful flavor, so I would definitely recommend giving it a try. Just cut off the rough outer edge, then use however you would like. I minced some, then mixed it with one clove minced garlic, fresh lime juice (about half of a lime), 1/4 cup rice vinegar (less sodium kind), and 1/4 cup soy sauce (less sodium kind). Then I poured it over the tuna. I also sprinkled sesame seeds on both sides of the tuna.

I looked online for an idea of what heat and how long to sear the tuna. I have ordered it at restaurants before, and it is best just seared on the outside and rare inside.To sear the tuna, spray a non-stick cooking pan with canola cooking spray, and turn stove on high heat. Once pan is nice and hot, turn heat to medium and sear tuna about 2 minutes per side (remember, you are just searing the outside, not cooking it through). Then remove from pan, slice, and top with chopped chives. My tuna slices were not as clean as I would like, which is most likely due to the fact that my knives aren't that fancy!

To accompany the tuna, I cooked some broccoli that I also found on sale (I was also going to do rice, but ended up cooking late and did not want to take the time to cook it). I placed a pan on high heat with a little oil to get it very hot. I cut the broccoli up, then turned the pan down to medium, threw in the broccoli, and added a dash of garlic salt and a little soy sauce. The broccoli will cook quickly, and you have to make sure you move it around a lot so it doesn't burn. This only takes a few minutes, and you are done! This entire meal only took me about 15 minutes to prepare, and it was very healthy, easy, and tasted great! I think cooking a variety of vegetables together like I did the broccoli would also be good over some rice or noodles.

For dessert, I made a smoothie. I put 1 cup frozen strawberries, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup low fat vanilla yogurt, and one frozen banana. When our bananas start to turn brown, I put them in the freezer, and they work great for smoothies (or banana bread). Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. This is a great way to have a healthy dessert, or would also make a good breakfast or snack.