Ahhhh, ladies’ luncheon! Okay, not quite — but how about a ladies and a gentleman luncheon? Absolutely! There’s almost nothing more refreshing on a hot summer day than a crisp, cool salad. Why not make it a meal? Salad as an entree! It’s anarchy! Dogs and cats living together … Oh, wait.
We invited our friend Jannette over for lunch today, and this is how it all panned out!
A few weeks ago, at my local Sprouts Market (I swear they don’t have me on retainer or anything), they had sushi grade ahi tuna steaks on sale for $6.99/lb. Considering that’s more than 50% off the normal price (!!!), we stocked up and got three one-pound steaks, fresh and ruby pink/red and perfect. I brought them home and sealed them in the vacuum sealer, and froze them for a rainy day. Today rained. It was an omen, and I knew it was time for tuna.
I thawed the tuna and because I am a super gourmet, I set it to marinade in a squeeze of Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame salad dressing. It’s actually a fabulous shortcut for things like this, especially fish. I usually have a bottle of it here at the house.
While the tuna was getting saucy and delicious, I got a mix of greens together in a big bowl, enough for three meal-size salads. As I had sent the man to the store for salad greens, he came home with two bags of salad because easier is better, and we had a romaine/spring mix bag and a butter lettuce bag. I tossed the two together and put them back in the fridge to stay crisp while I worked on the other salad veggies.
From top right, there’s a third of a cucumber diced, about a cup of cherry tomatoes, cut in half, three radishes cut into matchsticks, three green onions sliced thin on a bias (fancy food word for diagonal) and one small Haas avocado, cut into a dice.
Something I like to do when I am putting together this kind of meal-salad and if I’m not in a rush, is salt and pepper some of the veggies so they can soak up some of that flavor, and then we are layering flavor through all parts of the salad. If you get a bite that doesn’t have dressing, but it had a cuke or tomato that has been seasoned, it’s like a little crunchy juicy flavor hug. Flavor. Hug. I said it.
In my awesome vintage iron pan I put a squirt of oil and a pat of butter to heat up and when we were almost ready to chow down, put the fish in the hot pan to sear. Now, I get it that not everyone likes their fish rare, or you aren’t sure if it’s fresh enough to leave it rare, or some of you think if it’s not cooked through, it’s bait. I GET IT. Feel free to cook your fish to whatever temperature is most appetizing for you. Just don’t overcook it, ok? Say it with me.
Don’t overcook it.
The fish went on medium heat for about four minutes a side, but the tuna steak was about one inch thick or thicker. The time it takes to sear (or cook through) will depend on the thickness of your fish. Don’t put it in too hot of a pan, because you run the risk of your marinade burning and all the moisture to just boil and steam it’s way out of the fish, which is basically a tragedy. Or a crime.
While the fish was sizzling, I put a third of the greens mixture in each large bowl. I put 1/3 of the avocado on top of each salad, and then almost 1/3 of the cucumbers, radishes, tomatoes and green onions on top of each bowl. I saved a small amount of each to sprinkle over the tuna as a garnish.
I took the tuna off the heat and let it cool for a couple of minutes, and then I made thick slices of seared tuna and laid 1/3 of the slices across the top of each salad. Then, I sprinkled the rest of the veggies over the top of each serving and put some different types of dressing on the table, got three forks, called the man and the lady to eat, and then took a picture of a yummy seared tuna salad:
The greens weren’t dressed, so everyone got to pick their dressing and how much of it they wanted. The tuna had taken on just a gentle amount of toasty Asian-y flavor, and there was plenty on each salad to enjoy the veggies and the protein without having to run out of tuna before you ran out of salad (although our guest couldn’t quite eat all of hers so she devoured the tuna so there was no tuna waste! A woman after my own heart!)
I had steamed some edamame in the microwave and forgot to serve them on the side, but we found them and ate those a couple hours later so all was well. Sorry, Jannette! Bad host, BAD! You could also put crispy chow mein noodles on the salad like croutons, or serve it with sesame crackers. You could also marinade the tuna in something distinctly non-Asian, and then pick accompaniments depending on your taste. THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!
Also, it’s a light healthy meal and very cool and crisp for summer. So, there’s that. If you’re healthy-averse, then just make this for yourself because it tastes damn good. Salad? What? No, this is a TREAT, I am treating myself!
Once you sort of get the basics down for a good “big salad,” you can mix it up. If not tuna, how about chicken? Steak? Taco salad? Put things in your bowl that you’d want to eat. Even if your choice of protein isn’t low fat, or as lean as fish, you’re still ahead of the game by filling your tummy with the greens.
This is a super-easy meal for entertaining, and it doesn’t heat up the house. I wanted to say it’s summer in a bowl, but some red haired spokesperson for a fast food joint already said it so I got robbed. It would have been an excellent way to end this post. I blame the redhead.
