Yesterday, Saturday, we had  dinner at home. The Xmas tree decorated, the lights on, the fire strong in the fireplace and the first snow falling outside. Great evening to stay in. I cooked Ahi tuna fillet with a chopped salad.  I marinade Ahi tuna with ginger and soy sauce. It’s amazing!  The first time I cooked it, my kids thought it was meat.  The original inspiration comes from this recipe but as you can see from the photos, I cook it and serve it a little differently. For the chopped salad I got inspiration from the one on the menu of  the Corner Bakery Cafe. The recipe is for four Ahi tuna fillets but you can cut it in half.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 4 Ahi Tuna fillets
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 1 green onion, sliced
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 2 hearts of lettuce, finely chopped
• 2 big tomatoes, chopped in small cubes
• 2 avocados, cut in small pieces
• 2 slices bacon (cooked, crumbled)
• 1-2 green onion, chopped
• vinaigrette

How to make: Put the tuna fillets in a glass container and pour over the marinade mix –soy sauce, sesame oil, green onion, ginger, garlic, lime. Leave in the fridge covered  for at least an hour. In a big, deep pan, put a little oil and when the oil is heated add the fish. We like the fish well done so I leave it on for approximately 5-7 minutes each side.  For the chopped salad, I combined the lettuce with the tomatoes, avocado, green onions, and bacon bits. For the vinaigrette, I blended 1 cup of olive oil with 1/3 cup vinegar, salt and pepper and used approximately half of it (the rest in the fridge for tomorrow).  Make sure the bacon is good quality.  I had pre-cooked bacon in the fridge from Trader Joe’s and used that.

Notes and tips: On to reality check! No, I  ididn’t have sesame oil. Instead, I mixed the soy sauce with 2 tablespoons sesame seeds. For garlic, I defrosted two cubes of pulp garlic and instead of green onions I finely chopped dry onions.  If you don’t have a good fish market in your area, get frozen Ahi Tuna Fillets from Trader Joe’s. I also keep dry ground ginger in my cabinet in case I don’t have fresh ginger. The tuna can be served with rice if you prefer. The chopped salad at the Corner Bakery Cafe has chicken and blue cheese, too, but I didn’t have any. It was still very good, especially as a side dish.