Tasty Tuna in a Trice
Without exactly having made it a New Year's Resolution, I have, nonetheless, been attempting (and mostly failing) to eat a little less so that I can lose a little weight around my middle (in a vain effort to take the 'middle' out of 'middle-aged'!). So here's a very quick, easy, tasty and healthy meal which I am doing quite a lot at the moment, especially as it can be applied to fresh salmon fillets as well.
2 x fresh tuna steaks
Chilli dipping sauce (bottled)
Chopped or grated fresh ginger (a thumb's length)
Garlic oil
Lemon oil
Lime juice
Small slug of white wine (optional)
Salt & pepper
All you have to do is warm a tablespoon of garlic oil and a tablespoon of lemon oil in a frying or sauté pan. Then you add a tablespoon or so of bottled chilli dipping sauce (I used Tesco's own but there are loads on the market) and grate or chop in a thumbs length of peeled fresh ginger (but a ready prepared paste would do if that's all you have). You could also add some extra chopped fresh garlic or a knob of garlic paste if you wanted (although the dipping sauce usually has garlic in it already). Add the tuna fillets to the pan and season with the salt and pepper and juice of half a lime. They only need a few minutes each side on a medium heat or they become over-dry. If you are using some white wine, add it a minute or two before you add the tuna steaks to give it time to reduce a bit and burn off the alcohol.
When they are done, turn out onto warmed plates and complete with a fresh green salad - best if it contains rocket, spinach, watercress and baby beetroot leaves. Dress the salad with good quality extra virgin olive oil (or some more of the lemon oil) and sprinkle with some fresh lime or lemon juice. Season. You could also add steamed (or grilled) fresh asparagus if you happened to have any lurking in the fridge which needed using up. For a final little flourish, a spoonful or two of chilli jam (homemade is best) goes beautifully with the cooked fish, together with a further twist of lemon or lime.
If you wanted to add a little 'bulk' to the meal, I would suggest boiled baby new potatoes in their skins.
2 x fresh tuna steaks
Chilli dipping sauce (bottled)
Chopped or grated fresh ginger (a thumb's length)
Garlic oil
Lemon oil
Lime juice
Small slug of white wine (optional)
Salt & pepper
All you have to do is warm a tablespoon of garlic oil and a tablespoon of lemon oil in a frying or sauté pan. Then you add a tablespoon or so of bottled chilli dipping sauce (I used Tesco's own but there are loads on the market) and grate or chop in a thumbs length of peeled fresh ginger (but a ready prepared paste would do if that's all you have). You could also add some extra chopped fresh garlic or a knob of garlic paste if you wanted (although the dipping sauce usually has garlic in it already). Add the tuna fillets to the pan and season with the salt and pepper and juice of half a lime. They only need a few minutes each side on a medium heat or they become over-dry. If you are using some white wine, add it a minute or two before you add the tuna steaks to give it time to reduce a bit and burn off the alcohol.
When they are done, turn out onto warmed plates and complete with a fresh green salad - best if it contains rocket, spinach, watercress and baby beetroot leaves. Dress the salad with good quality extra virgin olive oil (or some more of the lemon oil) and sprinkle with some fresh lime or lemon juice. Season. You could also add steamed (or grilled) fresh asparagus if you happened to have any lurking in the fridge which needed using up. For a final little flourish, a spoonful or two of chilli jam (homemade is best) goes beautifully with the cooked fish, together with a further twist of lemon or lime.
If you wanted to add a little 'bulk' to the meal, I would suggest boiled baby new potatoes in their skins.
POSTSCRIPT:-
If all of the above is sounding vaguely familiar, then that's because it is! A few posts back(September) I wrote one about salmon which was more or less the same as this, though there were tomatoes, no asparagus and no chilli dipping sauce as a start point for the dish. Rather than deleting what I'd just published here, I thought I may as well leave it. You can mix and match to your heart's content!
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