Sear-iously Good Tuna

The items in this week's share really inspired this quick and easy dinner of sesame crusted seared tuna over bok choy and daikon.  It didn't hurt that tuna was on sale at the grocery store either.

Start by mixing up a marinade for your tuna.  We used soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and some fresh ginger. Toss everything together, add your tuna, and let it sit while you prep everything else.

For the salad, we just chopped up some baby bok choy, sugar snap peas, and daikon.  If you have a mandoline, that would be ideal for slicing the daikon.  But if you're like us and don't have one, just try to slice the daikon as thin as possible.

For the dressing, we threw together some sesame oil, Chinese cooking wine, black vinegar, and a touch of honey.  You could also use rice wine vinegar in place of the Chinese cooking wine and black vinegar, we just didn't have any on hand.  So we improvised.

Now, back to the tuna.  Once marinated, we seasoned it with some wasabi salt & pepper that we'd picked up from the Asian market, to add a little spice.  But if you don't have any, you can season with salt and pepper.  Then just roll it in your sesame seeds.  We used a combo of black and regular.  Place your tuna in a hot pan and sear it for a couple minutes on each side.  We like it raw in the middle, so we didn't leave our tuna in the pan very long.

Then just slice up your tuna and arrange it on top of your salad.  We topped ours with some freshly sliced scallions.  It paired nicely with the Flying Dog green tea imperial stout that I happened to find at the grocery store that morning.  Restaurant quality food in a matter of minutes.  What more could you ask for?

Coconut Macaroons

It feels like it's been a while since we posted something, so here's a little Sunday treat!  Also, 2 Hungry Hearts now has a Facebook page, so click over and 'Like' the page.

Since starting on our Paleo kick, we haven't really had many desserts (except on our cheat days!) since desserts typically include sugar.  While coming up with our Easter menu, we had planned to make coconut macaroons (though if you read that post, you'll know that we fell asleep...whomp! whomp!).  So, since we didn't make them then, we're making them now!

We had found a recipe online, but Justin didn't really like it...so we made up our own recipe.  So for the first time, you'll actually get a recipe out of us:

2 c. unsweetened, shredded coconut
1/2 c. coconut cream, or coconut milk
1 egg + 4 tbsp liquid egg whites (or just 1 egg + 2 egg whites)
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
a generous squirt of honey
pinch of kosher salt
chocolate (if you want to dip your macaroons in it)

All you have to do is mix all of the ingredients together (minus the chocolate).  Then just spoon the mixture onto a cookie sheet into whatever size macaroons you'd like.

Then pop those babies in a 325 degree oven for about 25 minutes.  They'll get to be a toasty, golden brown color.

The amount of honey you add will determine how sweet your macaroons are.  Ours were on the less sweet side, but I still feel like I'm eating dessert.  And if you want to add some chocolate, now would be the time to  dip your macaroons in some melted chocolate, let it set, and enjoy!

Today's Forecast: Chili with a chance of deliciousness!

With the impending inauguration tomorrow, we're hunkering down at home, avoiding the crowd and all the out of town escalefters (for those not familiar, an escalefter is someone that stands on the left side of the escalator, preventing you from walking up/down the escalator).

So with a Sunday night of football, what better meal to make than chili?  Plus, it means I get to try out my new crock pot that Justin gave me for Christmas.  Oddly enough, this is my first go-round with a crock pot.

We started with half a package of ground turkey (the other half from when we made burgers), and some ground beef.  We also threw in a chopped white onion and let it all cook up.  For spices, we tossed in cumin, cayenne, and chili powder.

While that was browning, we threw some tomatillos, a huge clove of elephant garlic, an Anaheim chili, a poblano chili, and a habanero into the oven to roast.  The oven was set at 350, and it only took about 20min for everything to get roasty, toasty and charred.

Once they were cool enough to handle, I chopped them up so they could be added to the pot.  We also drained and rinsed a can of kidney beans, cannellini beans, and corn.

After the meat browned, we added the roasted peppers, tomatillos and garlic, and the beans and corn.  There wasn't as much liquid to our liking, so we threw in a can of whole tomatoes.  With a good toss, so everything got coated in the spices and juices, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, we put the lid back on and let it simmer so all the flavors could meld together.

 

While the chili was simmering, we threw together some honey hush cornbread, ala Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.  I know I've said it once before, but I'm going to say it again...if you find yourself in Harlem, Syracuse, or Rochester, NY, you MUST find your way to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que.  They have the best, melt-in-your-mouth brisket you could ever imagine!

Anyway...the cornbread.  We just followed the recipe I linked to above...mixed up all the ingredients, popped her in the oven and let her bake up.

The chili was topped with some shredded cheddar, a dollop of cilantro lime crema, and some freshly chopped cilantro.