Mixed Greens Salad with Blackberry-Basil Dressing and Grilled Tuna Steaks

Mixed Greens Salad with Blackberry-Basil Dressing

Salad recipe serves 4

Salad Ingredients:

• 1 package of mixed greens 
• 2 avocados, peeled, pitted and diced
• 2 cups strawberries, sliced
• 1 cup diced cucumbers
• 1 cup blackberries
• 1 cup glazed walnuts or pecans
• optional red onion slices

Blackberry-Basil Dressing Ingredients;

• 1/2 jar (10 oz.) seedless blackberry preserves
• 1/4 cup Champagne Balsamic Vinegar, Pomegranate-Quince White or Aged Blackberry Ginger Balsamic  
• 6 fresh basil leaves, torn
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• dash of pepper
• 1/2 tsp. spicy mustard
• 3/4 cup good quality olive oil

Salad and Dressing Directions:

• Blend blackberry preserves, balsamic vinegar, basil leaves, garlic, salt, pepper and mustard until smooth.
• With blender running pour olive oil through top food chute in a slow steady stream, process until smooth.   
• Refrigerate and blenderize again right before serving.

Orange Glazed Grilled Tuna Steaks

Cook's notes:The glaze is the right combination of salty and sweet to turn the flavor of the tuna up a notch. I used Albacore tuna because it is the less expensive option as opposed to Yellow fin tuna. Albacore is less oily and not as flavorful as Yellow fin, but that doesn’t mean it’s bland. Its meaty texture is perfect if you’re a meat eater, but want to get more fish in your diet. Rice, couscous, roasted rosemary baby red potatoes and roasted asparagus are some suggested sides. The meal is delicious, nutritious and quick.
Recipe adapted from  http://eattessaeat.com/

Ingredients:

• Two 6-8 oz Albacore Tuna Steaks (2 inches thick)
• 2 tsp. sesame seeds
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 tsp. fresh minced ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Juice from half a navel orange (about 1/4 cup)
• 1 tsp. orange zest
• 1 orange peeled, cut and diced
• 1 TB. low sodium soy sauce
• 1 TB.honey
• 1/2 tsp. dark sesame oil*
• Olive Oil
• Non-stick Cooking Spray

Directions:

• Rinse tuna steaks in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
• Coat a grill pan or cast iron pan with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat.
• Season tuna with salt and pepper. Drizzle with enough olive oil to just coat steaks, and cover steaks with sesame seeds.
• Grill tuna for 4 minutes on each side if you prefer it pink in the middle. Grill for 6 minutes if you like your tuna cooked through. 
• Meanwhile in a small bowl, add the minced ginger, garlic cloves, orange juice, zest, soy sauce, honey and sesame oil, whisking until well mixed. Add in orange chunks and drizzle over cooked tuna steaks last few minutes of cooking time.

Cooking tip:
*If you don’t have sesame oil, toast about 1/2 a teaspoon of sesame seeds in a dry pan over medium heat, and add to the glaze. The toasted seeds will release their oils and impart that smokey sesame flavor.

May Day 
by Sara Teasdale (1884 – 1933)

A delicate fabric of bird song
Floats in the air,
The smell of wet wild earth
Is everywhere.

Red small leaves of the maple

Are clenched like a hand,

Like girls at their first communion

The pear trees stand.

Oh I must pass nothing by

Without loving it much,

The raindrop try with my lips,

The grass with my touch;

For how can I be sure

I shall see again

The world on the first of May

Shining after the rain?