Beaver Creek Recipe #1

I was privileged enough to spend a weekend at the Ritz a couple of weekends ago. To try and earn my keep I offered to cook for the other two people joining the boy and me. I thought a seared tuna dinner would be delicious so I got my keister to Sunflower to purchase 2 lbs of tuna filet for $10/lb. I knew that 2lbs would be too much for four people, but I was counting on the boys to eat their fair share. The morning that we left, I was informing the boy that I got way too much tuna to which he replied,

"Did I not tell you how many people are coming this weekend?"

(Color draining from face:) "No..."

"There are going to be 10 people."

Um...quoi?

So, needless to say, tuna dinner, became tuna salad, and dinner became a very-easy-to-make-for-10-people baked rigatoni (recipe to follow later.)

The salad was a hit, so I thought I'd post it here for others to enjoy. Forgive me if some measurements are off, I was just kind of throwing things together.

Seared Tuna with Chopped Asian Salad

Serves 5-6

1lb tuna filet
¼ cup Soy Vey teriyaki sauce (cheapest at Target, so delicious!)
1tbls cornstarch
skinny Rice Noodles

Dressing:
1 tsp Savory Spice wasabi powder
1 tsp warm water
1/8 cup soy sauce
splash rice wine vinegar
1 orange, zested
1 tbls toasted sesame oil
1/8 canola oil

Salad:
½ Napa cabbage, chopped
¼ red cabbage, chopped
3 carrots, shredded
1 cup frozen soybeans (edamame)
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
½ small red onion, sliced

1. Cook rice noodles according to package directions, drain and coat with a small amount of sesame oil to keep from sticking.
2. Heat large greased grill pan over medium-high heat.
3. Steam soybeans until heated through. Shock in a bowl of ice water and drain.
4. For dressing: prepare wasabi according to directions on bottle in a large bowl. Add all other ingredients except oils. While whisking vigorously, add sesame oil and canola oil.
5. Take your zested orange and cut off top and bottom. Cut off the rest of the peel starting your knife at the top and slicing around the meat to the bottom. You should be left with a whole, peal-less orange. Using a paring knife slice the meat of one wedge away from the white separator. Do this repeatedly working your way around the orange until you have a bunch of pretty orange slices in a bowl (sans icky white part), and the center of the orange with a lot of separators left over. Squeeze the juice from the leftover pit into your dressing bowl. (Note: this is really crummy way of explaining this, for video instructions see here).
6. Toss salad ingredients in dressing until coated.
7. Add tuna filet to heated grill pan when oil is slightly smoking. Sear for 2 minutes and flip to sear other side for another 2 minutes. The cooked portion should be no more than ½ centimeter. Remove immediately to cutting board and slice in long thin slices.
8. While searing tuna heat Soy Vey and cornstarch in small not non-stick fry pan until thickened.

Assembly:

1. Start with a cold salad plate. Top with small mound of rice noodles.
2. Layer a portion of salad on top of noodles.
3. Top with seared tuna slices.
4. Drizzle a line of thickening soy vey on top of tuna.

ENJOY!!