Tuna Tartare

The summer after my freshman year at Baylor, someone actually paid me to nanny for them in the Bahamas. I basically got to go on their long family vacation, entertain their adorable children, and enjoy the beautiful beach right outside their house. And they paid me. I would have done that for free. In fact, I probably should have paid them. Mrs. K (my employer/friend) also introduced me to two fabulous dishes, one of which is now my husBen’s* favorite food—roasted vegetable orzo—and the other of which I rediscovered last night for dinner and cannot stop thinking about. I found Mrs. K’s recipe card for Tuna Tartare tucked in a binder on my bookshelf, so I just modified it according to what I had in my fridge and pantry. And wow, was it good...about as good as scoring a nanny job in the Bahamas.

Tuna Tartare

½ pound of really awesome fresh tuna steak

2 tablespoons olive oil

grated zest of 1 lime

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime

1 tablespoon soy sauce

½ teaspoon wasabi powder (I omitted because I didn’t have any on hand)

a few dashes Tabasco (I used Sriracha)

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 scallions, chopped (white and green parts)

1 ripe Hass avocado

1 teaspoon black sesame seeds, toasted

Cut the raw tuna into ¼ inch dice and place into medium bowl. In a small bowel, combine the olive oil, lime zest, juice, wasabi (if using), soy, hot sauce, salt and pepper. Pour all over the tuna, add the scallions and mix well. Dice the avocado (slice in half, remove seed, score in criss-cross pattern, then scoop out with a spoon) and carefully mix into tuna mixture. Gently fold in the sesame seeds. Allow mixture to sit for at least an hour (the lime juice “cooks” the tuna). Serve with crackers.

*husBen= husband Ben

Note: Most of my recipes serve only 2 people. They are on small-batch on the fly because I live in two-people home. Quimby the dog does not count because although he does know to expect tasters along the way and leftovers afterwards, he does not get a full plate at the table. You can easily double most recipes- just make sure you taste before you serve so that the spices, etc turn out right!