Grilled Tuna with Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Man, talk about a summer recipe. Everything about this dish screams sun and outdoors grilling and skimpy bikinis. The Husband especially screams about that last part.

Grilled Tuna with Tomato and Cucumber Salad

TOTAL TIME: 25 MIN SERVINGS: 4

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 pounds tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 large cucumber—peeled, seeded and sliced crosswise 1/4 inch thick
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup torn basil leaves
1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon hot water
Four 6-ounce tuna steaks
2 teaspoons dried oregano

Directions:

Light a grill. In a large bowl, whisk the olive oil with the red wine vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes, scallions, cucumber, red onion and basil and toss to coat. Refrigerate the salad. In a small bowl, whisk the mustard with the balsamic vinegar and blend in the hot water. Season with salt and pepper. Brush the tuna steaks with olive oil and season with salt, pepper and the oregano. Grill the tuna over a hot fire until lightly charred on the outside and rare inside, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a carving board. Mound the tomato salad on plates. Thickly slice the tuna steaks and transfer to the plates. Drizzle the tuna with the balsamic dressing and serve.

And in addition to this being really good, it's pretty healthy, which is a key factor in what we've been eating lately. We got the tuna steaks frozen at Target and the directions on the package tell you everything you need to know about cooking them. Fish isn't scary, it's tasty! Embrace the fish, people. The thing about tuna, however, is that it's best cooked rare to medium-rare. So far, we have been mostly unsuccessful in getting the fish to that level. We always overcook, and part of it is that I always say, "That looks a little too raw for me in the middle; why don't you cook it for about another two minutes," and then when it comes off the grill it's always cooked all the way through. I've got to remedy that. And tuna steaks do not taste anything like tuna from a can. It's completely different and if done right, not nearly as fishy. Good fish shouldn't taste overly fishy anyway.

The tomato salad in the recipe would be good as a side item all by itself. Paired with the fish it just really completes the whole recipe. I halved the recipe for the salad and only cut two slices of onion to chop up. A whole onion is a lot for this recipe, and we're not huge onion people. I believe I used the full amount of mustard-balsamic glaze to go on top of the fish and it wasn't too strong, but you do have to be careful so as not to completely cover up the taste of the fish all together.

This just really came out well. We would definitely have this again!

Grilled Middle Eastern Meatballs

Of all the grumbling I've been known to do about living in semi-rural non-suburbia, I do have to note one sparkling diamond in the rough. About 15 minutes away, we have a spectacular Mediterranean restaurant. It's been there maybe two years and their food is wonderful. It's run by a Lebanese family, I think, and they are always so nice. Every time we go, the same girl waits on us. She's great and the Husband is totally smitten with her accent and tiny diamond nose piercing. Hmm, maybe I'll get one of those while he's away at the academy and surprise him when he gets home one weekend! Or, maybe not.

Grilled Middle Eastern Meatballs

TOTAL TIME: 25 MIN
SERVINGS: 4
Ingredients
1 pound ground chuck
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon minced flat-leaf parsley
1 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh mint
1 1/2 teaspoons zatar
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Bibb lettuce leaves and plain yogurt, for serving


Light a grill. In a medium bowl, gently mix the chuck with the onion, garlic, parsley, mint, zatar, salt, cumin and pepper. Form the meat into 1 1/2-inch balls and flatten them to 3/4 inch thick patties. Grill the meatballs over moderately high heat until pink in the center, about 2 minutes per side. Wrap the grilled meatballs in lettuce leaves and serve with yogurt.

The menu at the Mediterranean restaurant offers a variation of this dish and I was so excited when I found this recipe and decided to use it for my cooking conquest. Now even though it says 'meatballs,' these are, in fact, just like tiny burgers. The prep was super easy and the ground meat and spice mixture resulted in nine meatballs, halving the recipe like I have for all of the others so far. They grilled up quickly, too, so some of them got a little crispy.


So what did they taste like? Let me just say that my picture taking skills don't do this meal justice. Good? Yeah. Really good? Uh-huh. Awesome? Yeah, I'll go there. This tasted much, much better than I had ever hoped. First off, it just had this Mediterranean smell and general taste. Know what I mean? I think it was the spices, which I'll get into in a second. I didn't purchase Bibb lettuce to go with the meatballs because I didn't want to buy a whole head of lettuce just for one dish and have to waste the rest of it when it didn't get eaten. Small dollops of the plain yogurt on top were great and it added just the right amount of moisture to some of the drier, overcooked meatballs. They were terrific and I downed all nine of them in short order.


Now, these spices. Most everyone has salt, cumin, pepper, garlic and maybe even dried parsley on hand. But the thing that threw me was the spice Zatar. I was positive I would never find it here where I live. I looked it up online and it was available through Amazon for about $5, but I didn't feel like paying that much for an unknown substance. So I was mentioning this quandary to a co-worker on Tuesday and another co-worker overheard our conversation. She enlightened us to an international market near our office that carries lots of imported foods and spices. Eureka! So this afternoon, I went out there and basically hit the gastronomic jackpot. Spotted Dick and Garam Masala and Vegemite, oh my! I could have spent hours and lots of money in this place. It's this little store in a nondescript warehouse with four aisles of the most wonderful and strange food products you could ever imagine. For instance, I found a bag of dried fish. And, folks, that's what it was. It looked like a bag of dried anchovies or minnows all staring at you through the plastic, begging for you to reconstitute them and let them free in the nearest creek. Weird candy, Jesus candles, Chinese black beans, Nutella, guava paste and tons of other foods I've forgotten. But one of the aisles was full of little bags of spices. To my amazement, I found a spot labeled 'Zatar.' To my horror and dismay, there was none left. So I found the store manager and asked him if he had any more in stock and lo and behold, he went behind the counter and gave me a bag of green zatar. As in, gave it to me free of charge. Gratis. He said, "You can have this. Just take it home, you know, see if you like it." I was incredulous. And because of his generosity, I purchased $10 worth of things I really didn't need, but it all looked good and fun. So now that I know this little store exists, I'll be there much more than my wallet would appreciate, I'm sure, but I know every trip would be worth it.


So that's the story of zatar and Middle Eastern Meatballs. This recipe is a total keeper and I can't wait to share it with the Husband when he gets home.

Grilled Chicken with Green Chile Sauce

More rain, and another long commute home. Today I really wanted to sit on the couch, but once again the kitchen won. While I prepped for this meal, I wolfed down another serving of last night's Mexican Chicken Casserole because I always get home hungry and I have to eat a little something before dinner or I get irritable. And, you know, no one wants that.

Grilled Chicken with Green Chile Sauce

Yield: 4 servings
Serving size: 1 breast

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
¼ cup olive oil
¼ tsp oregano
½ tsp black pepper
¼ cup water
10 to 12 tomatillos, husks removed and cut in half
½ medium onion, quartered
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 serrano or jalapeno peppers
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup low fat sour cream
Juice of 2 limes

Combine the oil, juice from one lime, oregano, and black pepper in a shallow glass baking dish. Stir. Place the chicken breasts in the baking dish and turn to coat each side. Cover the dish and refrigerate overnight. Turn the chicken periodically to marinate chicken on both sides.

Put water, tomatillos, and onion into a saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil and cook uncovered for 10 minutes or until the tomatillos are tender. In a blender, place the cooked onion, tomatillos, and any remaining water. Add the garlic, peppers, cilantro, salt, and the remaining lime juice. Blend until all the ingredients are smooth. Place the sauce in a bowl and refrigerate.

Place the chicken breasts on a hot grill and cook until done. Place the chicken on a serving platter.

Spoon a tablespoon of low fat sour cream over each chicken breast. Pour the sauce over the sour cream.

I was really hoping to like this. It sounded good, and it was another healthy recipe I found. I also halved this recipe, but I only cooked one chicken breast instead of two. I used halved measurements of the marinade and did that in the fridge last night, but the chicken didn't take on much of the flavor. There was a little taste of the lime in the chicken, but overall it was weak. Before I grilled the chicken, I pounded it and salted and peppered both sides. The chicken looked to be drying out a little on the grill, so I actually brushed the chicken with the green chile sauce that I made in the blender. I think that helped to keep the chicken a little more moist than it would have been. I also had a lot of leftover green chile sauce when I put the desired amount on my chicken breast, and I discovered it was pretty good as a salsa with tortilla chips. Who knew? However, I think the sauce was the only redeemable part of this dish. I just wasn't impressed. I think it was the lack of flavor in the marinade, which could be pumped up easily, and while it says to blend the sauce until smooth, I think I would have liked it more with a few small chunks in it.

So, overall, not a huge fan of this recipe. I'll hold onto it, though, because I think it can be tweaked.