taniskitchen » Recipes, techniques & inspiration

Here’s a little trick: Whole foods has some amazing marinades and rubs, and they’re free.

Last night I made sesame-encrusted seared tuna (with wasabi), brown rice and sauteed broccolini. It’s not the cheapest meal in my repertoire, but it’s one of the best and it’s one of the easiest.

The cooking really begins when I can manage to get the kids loaded up and make it to Wholefoods. I love their produce, and even though it’s expensive, on special occasions that is where I shop. Not to disappoint, the broccolini was beautiful and FOUR DOLLARS a bunch.

Oh well, next stop: the fish counter. I asked for about 3/4 pound of tuna, cut in two pieces and covered all over with the sesame rub. In the end, I decided on a beautiful steak that was about .80 pound – (large servings, but so yummy that there were no leftovers). The gentleman behind the counter cut it into two equal pieces and covered it in the rub. I think all total the fish was about $18. Again, not cheap, but no extra money for the rub – it would be the same cost if you bought plain tuna and made the rub yourself.

The hardest part of this meal is starting the brown rice in time (takes about an hour). Just in case you want a basic recipe for brown rice: 1 cup dry rice, 2 cups water, drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt – bring to boil and then reduce to low for 45 – 50 minutes. Check to be sure water is absorbed, and then turn off heat and let it rest, covered, for 10 minutes or until everything else is ready.

For the broccolini, I washed it and cut off the ends. Heated up a skillet over medium-high heat, drizzled a bit of olive oil (about 1 Tbs), pressed 1 clove of garlic into the pan, then added the broccolini, sauteed it for about 3 – 5 minutes. Added about 1/4 cup water, reduced heat to low, put a little sprinkle of salt over, covered and let it steam while I seared the fish (5 – 7 minutes).

For the tuna, heat a skillet over medium-high heat, add canola oil (or vegetable oil – something that will take high heat cooking) approx. 3 Tbs (you don’t want to tuna to stick). And place the tuna steaks in the pan. You definitely want action in the skillet – sizzles and oil splattering. As soon as the white sesame seeds turn brown, turn the fish over (maybe 1 -2 minutes). The way our steaks were cut last night, we seared them on four sides, but if you have one big steak, you have to cook a little longer on just two sides. We like our tuna quite rare, but check it and cook as long as you like.

For the wasabi – buy a small jar of wasabi powder (near the Asian foods in the grocery store). All you do is mix a little bit (1 Tbs or so) with a small amount of hot water (2 tsp) – and stir. Add more water (or more powder) to make desired consistency. They also sell tubes of it already mixed up. I like the powder, because one jar lasts a year or two – and we just mix it up when we need it.

We sliced the tuna steaks and fanned the fish on a plate with a scoop of brown rice, a few broccolini stalks, a dollop of wasabi paste and a small bowl with soy sauce (for dipping). It was like professional restaurant shit, but ready in about 15 – 20 minutes (if you don’t count the cook time on the rice).

I should have snapped a picture. But it was eight o’clock and our sweet, almost-3-year old had tested our patience all evening. So, taking photos for my blog was the last thing on my mind at that moment. The kids were in bed, I sat down at the kitchen table with my sweetheart and we talked about our day, talked about starting a list of the top 10 restaurants we want to eat at in our lifetime, and enjoyed the best dinner we’ve had together in a long time.