Week O' Ina - Part II: Wasabi Tuna Rolls

Another day, another Ina Garten recipe.  Is that Jeffrey a lucky guy or what??!!  And don't even get me started on her house in the Hamptons.  Heck, I'd settle for her garden right outside MY kitchen window.

This recipe was featured on the same show as the granola bars.  It is easy to do and looks and tastes like a million bucks. Grilled Wasabi Tuna Rolls!  I like to call these one of those impress your guests with little effort recipes.

Olive oil

1 pound very fresh tuna steak
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 lime, zest grated
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (2 limes)
1 teaspoon wasabi powder
1 teaspoon soy sauce
5 dashes hot sauce
1 firm, ripe Hass avocado, diced
1/4 red onion, chopped
1 tablespoon minced scallion
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
9 hot dog rolls, grilled or toasted
1 bunch baby arugula

My whole foods find, soft and delicious wheat hoagie rolls.  They were perfect for this recipe.

 Brush both sides of the tuna with olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Cook the tuna on hot grill or grill pan for about 2 minutes (or less) on each side. Remove to a plate. The tuna should be seared on the outside and raw inside. Allow to cool and cut into cubes.

For the dressing, whisk together 2 tablespoons of olive oil, lime zest, lime juice, wasabi powder, soy sauce, hot sauce, 2 teaspoons kosher salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Toss the avocado in the dressing and then add the tuna, red onion, scallion, and sesame seeds.

Line the rolls with arugula leaves, fill with the tuna mixture, and serve.  And hello yummy!  You may want to offer these up with a fork as well.

Sesame Crusted Tuna with Wasabi Sauce

This is yet another fabulous recipe from Rachel at Me, Myself & Pie.  I only modified it slightly based on the ingredients on had on hand.

Wasabi Sauce:
1 tbsp green onion, chopped
2 tbsp tamari sauce
juice of 1/2 an orange
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp brown sugar
1 tsp lemon zest
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tsp raw honey
2 tsp wasabi powder
1 tsp grated ginger

Tuna:
3 tuna steaks
3 tbsp sesame seeds
3 tbsp black sesame seeds

Combine sauce ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together.

In another bowl, combine sesame seeds.  Dredge tuna in seeds until coated.

Heat a small amount of olive oil in skillet.  Add tuna to pan and cook on each side to desired doneness.  Unfortunately, I was dealing with the kids and mine got a little overcooked.  I would've preferred some more pink inside.

Serve with sauce.  Note: if you have leftover sauce, I notice that the wasabi intensifies in the fridge - in a good way, of course.  Just a warning to those of you who don't like hot wasabi.  :)

This was a really delicious, healthy meal.  My husband and I both enjoyed it.  I served the tuna along with Lyndsey's zucchini and carrot fritters and salted new potatoes (fresh from the earth that same day - yum).

My kids would eat the tuna steaks, but aren't much into sesame seeds - or any crunchy coating other than fried, so they had a little pork tenderloin instead.  They enjoyed their meal as well.  Come to think of it, I bet the wasabi sauce would've been great over the pork too!

The following day I used the leftover tuna and put it over a bed of baby spinach for lunch.  Before eating I tossed it in some of the remaining wasabi sauce.  It was very, very good.