There’s a reason people come home and collapse on the couch
and order carryout. No matter how well-planned my day is, no matter how much I
organize and delegate and fuss over this alleged “work-life balance,” the
simple fact remains that this is a busy stage of life and some days, things
just pile up. Making dinner becomes pretty much the last priority, aside from
the annoying fact that my children expect to be fed Every Single Day. More than
once, even! And when it’s hotter than hell outside, I have even less interest
in heating up the kitchen in my non-air-conditioned home. And yet, they want to
eat…
I’d like to pretend that the food part of my life is
perfectly organized. It’s not. There are a fair number of scavenging days.
There are days that John eats a box of cereal for dinner (in my defense,
generally not days that I’m home, but I’ve found the evidence in the trash more
than once). And I recognize that in order for us to have leftovers for dinner,
it’s required that I actually cook at some point in order to generate said
leftovers (unless we’re living in the movie Parents, in which case there are
larger problems).
So it comes as a pleasant surprise when, after going
completely off-list at the grocery store, I manage to pull together something
from the fridge and pantry that looks and tastes as if I actually gave it some
thought AND makes everyone happy, including John who may or may not like fish
on any given day, depending on how much I bought and how much it cost. An
abundance of cheap cod? Hates fish and acts like I’ve poisoned him. Just enough
$19/pound salmon to feed 2 adults? Adores fish and eats it all. Sigh.
About my pantry: We have a pretty serious collection of
vinegars and oils, and our spice cabinet is just a little bit out of control. This
lets me pull together some pretty cool meals on the fly; Indian cooking, for
instance, uses a ridiculous number of spices but if you have it all on hand, it
becomes relatively fast and easy. We make a monthly trip to an Asian grocery
store in our area and always have various kinds of rice noodles, assorted
vinegars, sesame oil, fish sauce, and coconut milk on hand; it’s also much less
expensive than buying similar items at a regular grocery store. For spices,
take a trip to your local high-end market and buy spices in bulk; you’ll save a
fortune, plus you can buy in smaller amounts so your spices are fresher when
you use them, and in theory you don’t have a ton of extra spices on hand when
you only need a teaspoon of something. It’s well worth an extra trip once a
month to have specialty ingredients on hand.
This particular recipe, from Cooking Light Magazine - March 2011, calls for flank steak, but tuna
steaks were on super-sale. This meal was popular enough that I’m completely sure
we’re going to have it again, possibly with the called-for flank steak. It’s
pretty enough that I’d serve it to company. It’s fast enough to become a
weeknight standard. And it’s low-maintenance enough for even a 90-degree day that
might otherwise call for carryout.
Maple Soy Tuna Steaks with Noodles and Sesame Cucumbers
4 tuna steaks
¼ cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons sake
1 ½ tablespoons dark sesame oil, divided
1 teaspoon Sriracha
Freshly ground black pepper
1 English cucumber
Salt
6 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar, divided
2 teaspoons toasted sesame seeds
1 8-oz package rice noodles
2 carrots
¼ cup green onions (white and green parts), cut into 1-inch
sections
Put a pot of water on to boil for the noodles.
Put the soy sauce, maple syrup, sake, 2 teaspoons sesame
oil, Sriracha, and some ground black pepper into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, then
add the tuna steaks, seal the bag, and let it rest for 20 minutes. You should
flip the bag over periodically while you’re making the rest of the food.
Peel, seed, and thinly slice the cucumber, then toss with a
teaspoon of kosher salt. Let stand 15 minutes.
Peel and shave the carrots into a bowl; using the peeler to
do this makes perfect thin little strips. Toss the carrots, green onions, 2
tablespoons rice vinegar, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and a little bit of salt
together.
By now your water should be boiling. Cook the rice noodles
according to the package instructions, then drain and run immediately under
cold water to stop the cooking. Overcooked rice noodles are a very, very sad
thing and will ruin your day. Toss the noodles with the carrot/green onion
mixture.
While the noodles are cooking, drain the cucumbers (if
needed) and squeeze them dry with some paper towels. Put in a bowl and stir in
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar and ¾ teaspoon sesame oil.
Heat a grill pan over high heat and cook the tuna steaks,
roughly 3-4 minutes per side (for medium; cook more or less to suit your
taste). While the tuna is cooking, pour the rest of the marinade into a small
pan and boil over high heat until it’s reduced by about half. Brush the tuna
with the marinade in the last minute or so of cooking (and serve the rest on
the side, because it’s delicious and everyone will want more than what stuck to
the fish). Also there will be no leftovers so be prepared to cook again
tomorrow.
