I’ve been eating tuna for as long as I can remember. You know the stuff, comes in a can, packed in oil or water. Mix it with a glob of mayo, some pickle relish, bit of lemon juice and slather it tween a couple slices of Wonder Bread.
Or mix it pasta, peas, carrots and call it a salad maybe? Well, it took me a good 40 years, but I’m not sure if I can go back to the can now…. not since I grilled some fresh tuna the other day.
Fresh tuna steak isn’t cheap… can easily be over $10 a pound. Frozen you can find it in the $7 a pound range I suppose. But for post WLS types, you’ll get 4-6 meals per pound, so it works out ok in the end. And ya know, this couldn’t be much easier to cook.
I’ve cooked this twice in the last few days now… and basically you use just enough olive oil (maybe 1/4 to 1/2 tsp) to lightly coat both sides, and sprinkle on your favorite seasonings then broil or grill. (I’m going to try it in my cast iron skillet next time to see how that goes too.)
The first time I use some of the taco seasonings I got from Penzeys and cooked it on my Grill Station. I did manage to over cook it a little bit… well, not over cook, but it was well done vs a more medium to medium-rare. Generally you can figure 5-7 minutes per side per inch of thickness. I went on the higher end, and with cooking both sides at once, I should have stuck to or just under 5 minutes total.
It was still very good, just a tad dry, and the left overs made for a great tuna salad the next day. I mixed a bit of mayo with a bit of basil pesto, lemon juice and some other chopped veges and had that for lunch. The texture and flavor were just soooooo much better than any tuna you can get in a can or those new foil packets.
I liked it so much, I had to have more the other night. I picked up a bit of a bigger piece, and this time I seasoned it using Penzeys Green Goddess dressing mix (it’s a blend of green onion, basil, dill, celery flakes and garlic).
This time I grilled it on my gass grill. It was a thicker cut than the last one, so I gave it about 7 minutes per side. I left the grill open the entire time except for about the last minute. The entire time this was cooking I had a foil packet with the green beans, some crushed garlic and sliced onions also cooking. The sauce is a bout 1/2tsp of the dressing mix in a couple Tablespoons of yogurt with a splash of lemon juice and a bit of Splenda to give it a little sweetness.
The tuna was… killer. I had always read you really don’t want your tuna well done (unless maybe you’re using it for tuna salad?) and while the first attempt was good, this time I nailed it. And it really was easy… no baby sitting… very little guessing as far as timing, because I could see how far through it was cooking…
Tuna doesn’t taste fishy at all… it’s got a very firm texture… a hint of a sweetness to it… and it’s like uber-good protein wise… just check out these stats for a 4 ounce serving;
- Calories:120
- Fat: 1g
- Cholesterol: 50mg
- Sodium: 40mg
- Carbs, Fiber, Sugars: 0g
- Protein: 27g
So next time you have a craving for some tuna, kick the can and try it fresh instead!
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Yum! I might need to grab one of these sometime. Hubby won’t touch it, but that’s just more meals for me
I bought a pack of IQF (idividually quick frozen) tuna steaks, I think at Sams. Check for something like that so you can take out just some for yourself, but yea… cook at least two, one for dinner and one for later.