Seared Tuna with Avocado Grapefruit Salad

It’s Valentine’s Day, and instead of braving the crowds at some fancy expensive restaurant, we decided to cook our own gourmet meal. We splurged on some sushi-grade ahi tuna, and the results were gourmet indeed. Not to mention the entire meal cost us maybe $15 tops. I dare you to find a meal like this for a price like that!

Avocado Grapefruit Salad with Citrus Mint Dressing

(Recipe from: Sunset, with a few modifications)

INGREDIENTS
2 red or pink grapefruit (3/4 lb. each)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon shallot, finely minced
2 firm-ripe avocados (10 to 12 oz. each)
2 blood oranges (optional)
1 package baby greens, rinsed
Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS
Cut peel and white membrane from grapefruit. Working over a strainer set over a bowl, cut between inner membranes and fruit to release segments into strainer. Squeeze juice from membranes into bowl (discard membranes); you need about 1/4 cup juice (reserve any remainder for other uses). Do the same with the blood oranges (if you’ve got them).
Add lemon juice, mint, shallot, and honey to grapefruit juice, and mix.
Peel and pit avocados; cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Arrange a handful of greens on each of 4 salad or dinner plates and arrange equal portions of grapefruit segments and avocado slices on top.
Spoon dressing evenly over salads. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cumin Crusted Tuna

INGREDIENTS
Sushi grade tuna
Cumin
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

DIRECTIONS
Rub tuna with salt, pepper, and cumin. You can be pretty generous with the cumin.

Heat olive oil in hot pan and sear tuna for about 2 minutes per side (more or less depending on how ‘raw’ you want it).

Slice and enjoy!

Sweet Potato & Avocado Sandwiches

I know you’re thinking, sweet potato and avocado? What? But yes, they do go together and quite well I might add! We have typically made these regularly between two slices of nice crusty wheat bread, but tonight we’d though we’d break out the panini maker. The result? Just as delicious! (You know when you get a new toy and it becomes your new favorite thing for the next day/week/month? That’s the panini maker. Makes a darn good sandwich!)

Sweet Potato and Avocado Sandwiches

The dressing is key to these sandwiches. I’m not a mustard fan but honey mustard is a whole other story. The recipe originally called for boiled sweet potatoes; we found them bland, so we brushed them with oil and honey and oven-roasted them. Delish. Not to mention good for you too.

INGREDIENTS
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 tbsp plus 2 tsp honey mustard
1 tbsp light mayonnaise
1/4 tsp poppy seeds
4 slices whole wheat bread
4 red onion slices, cut 1/8-inch thick
1/2 avocado cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
4 tomato slices, cut 1/4-inch thick
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese (optional)
1/2 cup baby lettuce or herb salad mix

DIRECTIONS
Toss sweet potato slices in a few tablespoons each of olive oil and honey. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook slices in oven until tender, about 15 minutes, flipping slices half way through.

Whisk together honey mustard, mayonnaise, and poppy seeds in a small bowl.

To construct the sandwiches, first spread half the poppy seed mixture on 2 of the bread slices, then place half of the onion, avocado, and tomato slices on top of each slice; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Add a layer of sweet potato slices, cheese and lettuce. Top with remaining bread. Slice each sandwich in half, securing each half with a toothpick. Serve with sliced dill pickles and a handful of baked chips.

Mango & Avocado Salad with Citrus Dressing

We’re back! And we’re in Tennessee! If you’ve wondered where we were this past month, well, we’ve been all over the place. But the move is over and we’re setting in to our new digs. The kitchen in our new place is fantastic, it might be the main reason we chose this place.

Anyways, we were anxious to break it in, and this was the perfect dish to do so. A delicious, light, and healthy meal perfect for a hot summer day. The recipe originally called for the addition of crab, which would have been delicious, but we’ve spent all our money moving and buying new furniture so crab wasn’t exactly in our budget. :) Served with corn and some fabulous mango cilantro margaritas, and it was definitely a meal we’ll make again!

Mango & Avocado Salad with Citrus Dressing

Makes 2-4 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
3 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon grated orange peel
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 red onion, sliced paper-thin
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat, picked over, separated into chunks
1 large (15- to 16-ounce) mango, peeled, pitted, sliced
1 large avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, sliced
12 large Boston lettuce leaves

DIRECTIONS
Combine first 4 ingredients in small bowl; whisk in oil. Season dressing with salt and pepper. Mix in onion; let marinate 15 minutes.

Combine crabmeat, mango, and avocado in large bowl. Gently mix in dressing. Overlap ends of 3 lettuce leaves in center of each plate, forming bowl. Mound salad in lettuce bowls and serve.

Mango & Avocado Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

These were yummy, refreshing, and oh-so-good. Taylor revised his kick-butt peanut sauce to be even more kick-butt (if you can believe it). It’s basically the same recipe, but sans garlic salt, and adding in a tablespoon (or so depending on your heat-tolerance) of Mongolian Fire Oil. Delicious.

Mango & Avocado Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

Makes 2-3 servings.

INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 seedless cucumber, cut into matchsticks
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 avocado, sliced and tossed with lime juice
1 cup lettuce, shredded
fresh basil, chopped
fresh cilantro, chopped
1 package cellophane noodles
Rice paper wrappers

DIRECTIONS
Cook cellophane noodles according to package directions. Rinse with cool water and let drain. Toss with rice vinegar and sugar, set aside.

Soften a rice wrapper in hot water. Arrange a small amount of noodles and other filling items on wrapper, and gently roll. Repeat with remaining wrappers until filling ingredients are gone. Slice carefully with serrated knife on a bias. Drizzle (or dip in) peanut sauce, and serve.

Coconut Shrimp & Asian Orange and Avocado Spinach Salad

This was a good one. Crispy coconut shrimp with a creamy peanut dipping sauce, perched next to a fresh and flavorful salad with baby spinach, avocado, and orange.

Yup. We’ll be making this meal again.

Except… we’d use Taylor’s peanut sauce recipe. Alton’s had far too much peanut butter and almost tasted more like my pie filling than a spicy dipping sauce. But even that didn’t stop these shrimp from shining. Delicious, and for such a “pseudo-gourmet” meal, was actually quite easy.

Coconut Shrimp

Makes 4-6 servings. Recipe from Alton Brown.

INGREDIENTS
24 large (15 to 20 count) shrimp, peeled, deviened, and butterflied
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground white pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 egg whites
2 1/2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, or 2 1/2 cups shredded fresh coconut
Canola or peanut oil, for frying
Taylor’s Kick Butt Peanut Sauce

DIRECTIONS
Pat the shrimp dry with a paper towel. In a small bowl combine cornstarch, salt, pepper, and cayenne. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. In another bowl, place the coconut. Coat the shrimp with the cornstarch and shake off any excess. Dip into the egg white and then press into the coconut to get full coverage. Try to keep 1 hand dry, this will keep things a little cleaner.

In a large pan, heat the oil to 350 degrees F and gently submerge the shrimp, 6 at a time. Fry for about 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove them to a rack to drain. Serve with Peanut Sauce.

Asian Spinach Salad with Orange and Avocado

Makes 4 servings. Recipe from Bon Appetit.

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
2 tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon (generous) Asian sesame oil
1 navel orange
1 6-ounce bag baby spinach leaves
1 Pinkerton or Fuerte avocado, halved, pitted, peeled, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

DIRECTIONS
Whisk first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set dressing aside.

Cut off peel and white pith from orange. Cut orange into 1/3-inch rounds; cut rounds crosswise in half. Add spinach to dressing; toss to coat. Add avocado and orange; toss gently.

Beef and Avocado Fajitas

For my birthday a few weeks ago, my parents surprised me with a huge box of meat. Grass-fed, humanely-raised beef. Unusual, yes, and unexpected, but a welcome surprise. I commented that this box contained more beef than we had probably eaten in the past three years combined. So we’ve had to be quite creative in finding ways to use it.

Like these. Fajitas. Which we might normally make with chicken, but this time we were able to indulge with a bit of steak. The box has what are called “Fajita Packs”, what else do you make with that except fajitas? So we altered the recipe slightly, since our steak was already cut into chunks. We just sauteed it with the spices rather than using the rub and sear method the recipe describes.

These are not greasy fajitas. They are fresh, flavorful, and very green. The combination of lime, cilantro, and avocado makes for one delicious fajita.

Now, we just have to figure out what to do with the other 3 fajita packs…

Beef and Avocado Fajitas

Makes 3-4 servings. Recipe from Epicurious.

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 lb flank steak, trimmed if necessary
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chile powder
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 heart of romaine
2 firm-ripe avocados (8 to 10 oz each)
12 (6-inch) flour tortillas (not low-fat)
1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro sprigs

Accompaniments: tomatillo salsa; lime wedges

DIRECTIONS
Heat a well-seasoned ridged grill pan (preferably cast-iron) over moderately high heat until beginning to smoke, then brush with oil.

While pan heats, pat steak dry and stir together spices and salt, then rub all over both sides of steak.

Grill steak, turning over once, 9 to 11 minutes total for medium-rare. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, cut romaine crosswise into thin shreds. Quarter avocados lengthwise, then pit, peel, and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices.

While steak is standing, stack tortillas, wrapped completely in dampened paper towels, on a microwave-safe plate and cook in a microwave oven at high power (100 percent) until tortillas are hot, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Holding knife at a 45-degree angle, thinly slice steak across the grain. Serve with tortillas, avocado, romaine, and cilantro