Seared Sesame Tuna over Rice

Starting with the Seared Sesame Tuna over Rice was a brilliant idea!  The tuna was moist and the salad was flavorful.  Eating this made me excited for all the meals to come.  We decided to start with tuna, since it would be served rare and we didn't want it sitting around too long.  The kit label also had an icon on it that said "Make Me First."

Hello Fresh sends a booklet with each weekly box, containing  recipes for each of your meals and some handy information about produce that's in season.

The recipe card has info about prep times and all the ingredients with photos on the front.  The back of the card also lists the ingredients and amounts of each that you'll be using, as well as potential allergens and the tools you'll need.  That's also where you'll find the recipe instructions and nutritional information, including calories, fat, protein, carbs, sugar, sodium and fiber.

This recipe is nut free, gluten free, dairy free and is a level 1 for difficulty.    It includes fish, eggs and soy.

You start by cooking the rice with a cup of water.  That part is kind of set and forget - at least for fifteen minutes.  Then you start on the produce.  Give the scallions and radishes a thin slice and mince or grate the ginger and garlic.  I prefer to grate them on a microplane to make quick work of them.

For step 3, you make the aioli, by mixing together a pinch of the ginger and garlic (to taste) with mayo and white wine vinegar.  The mayonnaise was perfectly portioned in this cute one ounce jar (the recipe called for 2 tablespoons, which is an ounce), but you only need a half teaspoon of the vinegar, which also came in a one ounce jar.  So be careful not to just dump the whole thing.

Next, it's time to crust and sear the tuna.  It's just seasoned with salt and pepper.  I patted it dry with paper towels before seasoning.  Then you press sesame seeds into the top and bottom of the fish, so they stick.  Heat up some olive oil in a non-stick skillet over medium high and cook about a minute per side.   You can always cook it longer, if you're not into rare fish.   You provide the olive oil, salt and pepper yourself.  Those are the only ingredients they don't send you at Hello Fresh.

Let the fish rest a minute or two on your cutting board while you prep the salad.  All you do for that is toss together the arugula, radishes olive oil and a bit of the remaining white wine vinegar with some more salt and pepper.

Your rice should be done by about this time, so fluff it up with a fork, pile it on one side of the plate.  Slice the tuna and lay on top of the bed of rice.  Pile up some salad on the opposite side of the plate and add the aioli over the tuna.  Sprinkle with the scallion greens.  You'll have a lot.    There were 3 scallions in the box and I chopped all of them.  I probably only used one on our plates, though.

We thought this meal was delicious.  The aioli had just the right amount of spice.  I added about half the ginger and garlic and it was perfect.  The tuna was moist.  It did seem like the portion of rice was a bit too much for me, but the right size for Jesse.  I'll keep that in mind for future meals.  Maybe more of a one-third, two-thirds split, rather than 50/50.  The arugula salad had a bit of a bite.  This recipe left me ready to keep cooking the rest of the week.

Next up: Jamie's Tomato, Spinach & Olive Fusilli with Fresh Oregano & Cheese