Mexican Tuna Steak – Restaurant Quality Eating!

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Mexican Tuna Steak

Restaurant Quality Eating

Every once in awhile I try a new recipe which results in what I call a “restaurant quality” meal. Mexican Tuna Steak is one of those recipes! While there are a few steps, it’s well worth the effort. Essentially there are 3 elements to this recipe. The Pepper Onion Saute, which if prepared in advance, makes the recipe come together pretty easily.  The simple Avocado Salsa, which is best prepared just before cooking the tuna. Last, you saute the the fish in a delightful buttery lime sauce, assemble, and enjoy the fiesta of flavor!

Chicken Works Too!

I only had 1 tuna steak on hand, so I also cooked a boneless chicken fillet using the same preparation. The result was tasty as well. You will need to cook the chicken a few additional minutes per side, depending on its thickness. Be sure it is cooked through, but still moist.  I personally preferred the tuna steak, but chicken is a great option if you don’t like tuna steak or fish in general. You could also try other types of firm fleshed fish like swordfish, cod or halibut.

Scenic Drive with Sweet Reward

Mike and I decided to escape our cozy little 1 bedroom apartment and take a drive on what tuned out to be a top 10 weather day. I confess that I miss our summer drives through the lush green farmland on the way to the cabin. So with no particular destination in mind, we headed south into the country side and wound up in New Prauge. As luck would have it, we came upon a truck on the main drag loaded with just picked sweet corn from Sasse Farms.  I knew the corn would be best eaten the same day, so I decided to make this my side dish with the tuna steak. My very simple preparation was to cut the corn from the cobs, steam it gently in a saute pan with just a little water. After draining the remaining water, I mixed in a generous measure of butter and a little salt and pepper.  Its been years since I’ve tasted corn this sweet!  Of course the key is that it came from the field that day. Simply divine and the very essence of summer.

Mexican Tuna Steak

Buttery lime sauteed tuna steak served over a red pepper/onion saute topped with avocado salsa.

5 from 1 vote

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Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mexican

Keyword: Avocado, Mexican, Paleo, Red Pepper, Tuna Steak

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 2

Author: Irena Macri | Eat Drink Paleo

Ingredients

Pepper Onion Saute

• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 c. sweet onion or red onion coarsely chopped
• 1 c. red bell pepper coarsely chopped
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 tbsp. cider vinegar
• good pinch red chili flakes
• good pinch kosher salt
• 2-3 tbsp. water

Avocado Salsa

• 1 large avocado cut into medium chunks
• 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro substitute basil if preferred
• juice from 1/2 lime
• pinch kosher salt

Tuna Steaks

• 1 tbsp. olive oil plus additional for drizzling on fish
• 1 tbsp. butter
• 1 tsp. crushed coriander seeds you can use ground coriander, but I really liked the crushed coriander seed because it added some nice texture to the fish
• 2 tuna steaks about 6 oz each
• kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
• zest from 1 lime
• juice from 1/2 lime

Instructions

Prep Tuna Steak

• Pat tuna steak dry and drizzle with some olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and set aside to come to room temperature.

Pepper Onion Saute

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in non stick saute pan to medium heat. Add onion and pepper. Cover and cook for 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times. Add paprika, cumin, garlic, cider vinegar, salt, chili flakes and 2 tbsp. water, mixing thoroughly. Cook an additional 5-7 minutes until vegetables are tender and slightly browned, adding 1 additional tbsp of water if pan gets dry. Keep warm if proceeding with recipe. Note – Pepper Onion Saute can be made in advance and rewarmed in microwave just before assembling.

Avocado Salsa

• Combine avocado, lime juice, cilantro and salt. Toss well and set aside.

Cooking Tuna Steak

• Heat 1 tbsp olive oil and butter in non stick saute pan to medium high heat. Add coriander seeds and lime zest and stir for 1 minute to infuse flavors into olive oil/butter mixture. Add tuna steak and turn heat down to medium. Squeeze juice of 1/2 lime over fish and cook for 2 minutes, bathing the steaks in the lime butter sauce while cooking. Turn and cook for 2 additional minutes. If you prefer medium to medium well cook for 3 minutes per side.

Assemble

• Place Pepper Onion saute on plate, topping with tuna steak. Drizzle some of the lime butter sauce over fish, Top with Avocado Salsa. If desired, squeeze additional lime juice and drizzle with additional olive oil before serving.