Mango, Avocado, and Sesame-Seared Tuna Salad

My regular rule when I eat out is that I don't order anything I think I can make as well or better at home. I gravitate instead towards dishes with hard-to-find or very fresh ingredients, difficult preparation techniques, ethnic foods that I don't know how to make, or very involved recipes. A several fancy restaurants I've been to in the last few years have featured ceviche-like dishes with slices or cubes of raw tuna, often accompanied by avocados, mangos, and citrus fruits. Fearful of doing raw fish at home, I had not attempted to recreate this myself. But when the grocery store had beautiful, essentially sushi-grade, frozen tuna steaks on sale, I knew I had to buy them and give it a try. This delicious recipe is the result. While fancier than I would normally cook on a regular night, it's actually not that expensive if you're buying the raw ingredients, and is great if you want a nicer meal for a special occasion at home. Also, other than searing the tuna, it's really more assembly than cooking, and hard to screw up.

Mango, Avocado, and Sesame-Seared Tuna Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 mango (champagne/atauflo are my favorites)

1 avocado

1 cup cherry tomatoes

2 tuna steaks

1 Tbsp sesame oil

baby greens or other lettuce (optional)

toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Equipment

Knife and cutting board

Saucepan

Stove

Tongs

Instructions

1. Peel mango. Slice fruit from both sides of the pit and along the edges of the pit, then cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

2. Peel avocado, remove pit, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes.

3. Wash and chop cherry tomatoes in half. Toss tomatoes with mango and avocado to combine.

4. Wash and pat dry tuna steaks. Pour sesame oil into saucepan on stove over medium heat. Place tuna steaks in saucepan and cook until the bottom side has become opaque and begun to develop a golden crust on the edges but middle is still raw. Flip and cook on other side, again until opaque and with a slight golden color, but with the middle still pink along the sides (like in the photo below).

5. Using tongs, carefully rotate the tuna steak so it is standing on its short edges. Cook briefly on each edge until the sides are no longer raw (but the middle remains uncooked). [I love my tuna not really cooked, but if you want yours more cooked, then it's fine to cook longer until pink but not raw in the middle. Just don't cook it until gray throughout, you will ruin it.]

6. Remove from the heat and let cool for a few minutes, then slice (see how lovely and raw it still is in the middle!).

7. Plate your greens and top with half the mango mixture or place the mango mixture in a bowl, and arrange the seared tuna on top. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds if desired.

Curried chicken/tofu salad

This is an easy recipe that packs in lots of protein, healthy fats, and fiber, and also tastes great. You can make it with cubed pan sautéed chicken or tofu, and in the later case it's vegan. I served it cold over greens but it would also be great on a sandwich or warm on rice.

Ingredients
3 chicken breasts/1.5 blocks extra firm tofu
1-2 tbsp olive oil
1.5 ripe avocados
1/2 yellow onion
2 granny smith apples
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp curry powder
3/4 tsp powdered ginger
1/2 tsp turmeric
1.5 tbsp lemon juice

Equipment
Knife and cutting board
Strong fork
Large bowl
Medium saucepan
Stove
Measuring spoons

Instructions
1. Cut chicken or tofu into cubes and sauté in olive oil over medium heat until cooked through for chicken and until a golden crust forms for tofu.
2. Chop onion finely. If you want, peel the apple, them chop into smallish pieces (the size of the tip of your pinky or smaller).
3. Peel and remove pit from avocados, then mash in large bowl with a fork until smooth.
4. Add spices and lemon juice to mashed avocado and mix thoroughly with the fork.
5. Add onion, apple, and cubed chicken or tofu and toss to coat with avocado mixture. Eat immediately or refrigerate (note: the avocado will brown quickly but still taste fine for a few days in the fridge). Serves 3-4.