Dinner Tonight: Seared Tuna Tower with Spring Vegetables

Tonight was a chance to put to good use seasonal transitional vegetables - a combination of winter ones like beets and kale with spring ones like peas and fresh chives.

Seared Tuna Tower with Spring Vegetables, a photo by atl10trader on Flickr.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized tuna fillets, seasoned with pinch of curry, salt, pepper
• 1 cup red onions, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fennel, finely chopped
• olive oil
• 2 Tbls combined rice vinegar and/or lemon juice
• 1 Tbls murin 
• 4 small/medium beets, roasted or pickled, cut into 1/4" diced cubes
• 1/8 cup of diced red pepper
• 2 avocados, 3/4 of which cut into diced squares, 1/4 aside
• 1 cup and 1/2 cup of spring peas (preferably frozen) separated
• 1/4 cup finely chopped kale
• 1/8 cup finely chopped cilantro
• 2 Tbls chives, tarragon chopped

This dish is consumed as much with the eyes as it is with your taste buds. To make it you'll need an O-ring mold, the kind you can get almost anywhere - like these from Amazon.

1. Saute the red onions and fennel with a little olive oil for about 15-20 minutes until softened. Put into bowl. Add a mix of preferred spices (e.g., curry, za'atar, etc.)
2. In the same pan with a little more olive oil, sear the tuna on medium-high heat for 2 minutes each side. Place on a plate to cool. Slice tuna into strips and again into 1/2" cubes.
3. Create an ice bath that you will use to rapidly cool down the green vegetables. Take a large bowl and fill it with ice. Add cold water. Place by the sink.
4. Bring to boil 2 cups of heavily salted water in a pot or double broiler. Have the colander ready.
5. Put the peas in and let cook for no more than 1 minute before dumping the water and peas in the colander and placing the peas in the ice bath. Separate 1/2 cup of peas and put the rest in a small bowl aside.
6. Repeat salted water boil and ice bath for the kale and cilantro but let cook in water for no more than 20 seconds - enough to turn items to a bright, vibrant green.
7. In an immersion blender place the kale, cilantro, 1/2 cup peas, and 1/4 avocado. Add rice vinegar, murin. Salt and pepper to taste. Blend until a smooth and creamy texture is achieved. You can add more avocado to increase thickness or more liquid to thin it.
8. Assemble several bowls containing:
1. red onions, fennel, beets, and red pepper
2. tuna
3. peas and remaining avocado
4. puree
9. In the O-ring, compact the following:
1. start with the peas and avocado at the bottom
2. add 1 or 2 spoonfuls of the puree
3. add tuna
4. top with red onion, fennel, red pepper
10. Remove O-ring and voila!