Marinated Seared Tuna Recipe

For the 4th of July holiday and weekend, I decided to treat myself and splurge on big eye tuna from Central Market. I love ahi tuna, but try to limit myself since 1) it's expensive and 2) it's considered a high-mercury fish. I haven't had it in awhile and it was on sale + 4th of July so the timing was perfect. So I researched a couple of recipes and decided on Food Network's Anne Burrell's recipe.

Before heading off to the gym, I prepared to marinate my tuna for the two hours called for in the recipe. However, I didn't have any sambal oelek, but had something fairly similar and used Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce instead.

You can already tell the mixture of ingredients was going to yield a pretty tasty seared tuna. Look at all seasonings:

Then I poured it over my tuna and let it marinate for about two hours while I went to Studio Fitness Heights to do my crazy full body workout that Sohee Lee prescribed for me. I'll just say my tuna was very well deserved after my workout.

When I got home, I took it out of the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature for about 30 minutes as called for in the recipe. I hadn't done this before for tuna, but it I will start now - it cooks better and doesn't leave a seared cold tuna to be plated. Instead of oiling the pan, I just sprayed it with some nonstick spray which worked for me and my post workout meal.

Pan-seared one minute on each side on a thick slab of tuna yielded a nice browned layer and a pretty raw center which I prefer.

I made sure to keep all herbs and seasonings stuck on the tuna so it would sear nicely as well and used the rest to season my side of jasmine rice and frozen peas. Mmmmmmm it was so good! Definitely a nice meal after a tough full body workout. The ginger brightened up the tuna and the soy sauce was not too salty. I didn't use too much rice vinegar since my body doesn't tolerate it well. I used more garlic and ginger than called for in the recipe since I really like those flavors. Searing it yielded a slightly smoky flavor to the garlic and ginger. I poured the leftover sauce in the hot pan and let it simmer for about 20 seconds before pouring it over my rice. You can use it as a dipping sauce for your tuna or just pour it over the tuna instead. Anne Burrell's recipe is a winner and you should try it the next time you're serving up some tuna. Make sure to catch her show, Secrets of a Restaurant Chef, on the Food Network channel for some more yummy recipes!

Marinated Seared Ahi Tuna for 1 (adapted from Anne Burrell on Food Network)

• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Lee Kum Kee Chili Garlic Sauce
• 1 scallion finely chopped (white and light green parts only)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/2 inch ginger, grated
• 5 - 6 oz ahi tuna

Mix the first six ingredients together. Pour over tuna and make sure all sides are soaked. Refrigerate for about two hours, turning the tuna over occasionally, although it is not absolutely necessary. Before cooking, remove from refrigerator for 20 - 30 minutes and turn the tuna over at least once to marinate evenly. Heat a frying pan on high heat coated with nonstick spray and sear each side for about one minute. Jasmine rice works best if using rice as a side. Enjoy!

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Shepherd's Pie

Trying shepherd's pie in Vegas piqued my interest to cook it at home! I found a recipe by Ellie Krieger on Food Network (my favorite channel by the way) and adapted it to suit my preferences. Ellie Krieger healthifies a lot of recipes and she's always so creative in incorporating healthier ingredients. This particular recipe uses a mix of cauliflower and potatoes for the topping instead of straight potatoes, which came out delicious and I plan on making this version of mashed potatoes for the holidays this years. Let's see if I can trick my nephews. Since I was making this for lunch at work, the mix was also beneficial in that I would not get sleepy after eating too much potatoes. Potatoes are just a little too comforting during the work week and I need to stay awake!

First, scrub your potatoes clean and cut into 2" pieces, then add to a steam basket to soften.

Add your cauliflower after potatoes begin to soften. My steamer is small so I had to do an additional separate batch of just cauliflower.

Once they're tender, if you're angry, mash it up with a potato masher, and if you're feeling lazy, a hand mixer. If you like it really fine, you can put it in a blender.

Add the milk, butter, some salt n peppa.

Stir to a creamy consistency. You can't even tell by looking at it there's cauliflower! The mix of potato and cauliflower really is delicious and a little butter goes a long way. I am crossing my fingers I can trick my nephews this year with this. Muhahahaha.

Heat a large pan and add the ground beef and chicken breast.

Season with a little salt n peppa and cook through. Pour into a separate dish or bowl. I did not drain the fat here since I used ground chicken breast and it could use a little more flavor.

Heat the oil in the pan and add the onions and carrots; cover and cook until the mixture begins to soften.

Once the carrots and onion begin to soften, add the mushrooms, some salt, and dried thyme.

Occasionally stir and cook until most of the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated. Did I mention how much I hate cleaning mushrooms? You really have to rinse down each and every single one. That little crunch when you don't? Yeah that's dirt. Or if you're really unfortunate, other brown stuff on the ground. Ewwww.

Add the meat back to the pan and sprinkle the flour over all of it and stir until well combined.

Measure out one cup of low/reduced sodium beef broth.

Pour the broth into the pan, stir, and cook until thickened.

Pour the mixture into a 9" x 11" baking dish. Or you can do individual ramekins - I should've done this.

Spread it out evenly in the dish.

Dump the potato-cauliflower mixture (or the fake mashed potatoes) on top.

Spread it evenly over the meat mixture.

Look at the awesome layer of meat mixture and potato mixture, looks delicious and comforting doesn't it? Don't eat it yet - bake it in the oven for about 25 minutes.

Then dig in!

This recipe makes 6 large servings. I was excited to eat this for lunch at work this week. I plan on making it again with ground turkey for variation. I think using all beef might be a little too rich for me. I also left out peas since I forgot to pick some up, although I'm sure it would taste even better with it.

Recipe (adapted from Ellie Krieger on Food Network)

• 8 oz (227 g) 90% lean grass-fed beef
• 8 oz (227 g) ground chicken breast
• 1 tsp (5 g) olive oil
• 3 cups (480 g) chopped yellow onion
• 1.5 cups (200 g) chopped carrots
• 8 oz (227 g) sliced white button mushrooms
• 1 tsp (5g) dried thyme
• 2 tbsp (20 g) all-purpose flour
• 1 cup (8 oz/236 ml) low-sodium beef broth
• 1 tsp salt  (5 g) + more based on your preferences
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 20 oz (567 g) gold potatoes, cut into 2" pieces
• 24 oz (680 g) cauliflower, cut into florets
• 2/3 cup (5.2 oz/156 ml) fat-free milk, warmed
• 1 tbsp (12 g) unsalted butter

Add the potatoes to a steamer basket and cook for 10 minutes, then add the cauliflower and cook an additional 15 minutes or until tender. Mash the mixture with a potato masher or hand mixer and add the warm milk, butter, 1/2 tsp salt, and dash of pepper. Stir until combined. Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large non-stick skillet, add the ground beef and chicken and lightly season, cook over medium-hight heat. Once cooked through, transfer the meat to a bowl or plate and set aside.

In the same skillet on medium heat, heat the oil and add the onions and carrots.  Cover and cook for about 8 minutes until the vegetables begin to soften. Add the mushrooms and thyme and stirring occasionally, cook until most of the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated. Add the meat back to the pan with the vegetables and sprinkle the flour on top, stirring to distribute the flour throughout evenly. Stir in the broth, remaining salt, and a pinch of pepper and simmer until thickened.  Pour the mixture in a 9" x 11" pan and top with the potato-cauliflower mixture. Bake for about 25 minutes and serve.

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