An all-green spring or summer salad with a sesame, lime and chilli dressing. Topped with sesame-crusted seared tuna for an easy, healthy no-cook meal. Jump to Recipe
The worst part about New Zealand summer happens now. The time when the end of January draws near, and the rain clouds and unpredictably cold bands of wind which hover around Christmas and New Years tormenting holiday-goers finally seem to give up for a while. Blue sky day after blue sky day, muggy and sticky, coincide with the peak of summer produce – boxes of cherries, ripe peaches dribbling juice, cobs of wrinkle-free corn and the reddest, sweetest tomatoes you will encounter for another 12 months. Zucchini and apricots, bags of avocados – this year, even the strawberries seem to be sticking around a little longer.
And yet, at this very height of the season, just the point made for hours reading in afternoon heat, hosting barbecues which aren’t forced indoors, and just letting the very warmth seep in to carry us through the year to come – we go back to work. And school. And routine.
The best time of the year, this late January and February, is when the country returns to normalcy – while the traditional holiday week after New Years was spoilt by torrential, horizontal rain swamping half-empty campgrounds and beaches too cold to visit. My main memories of selling Christmas trees, at a time you might expect to end up reddened and tired from hot hours sitting on the road, largely involve raincoats, puffer jackets and wind strong enough to topple the outdoor umbrella, leaving me huddling inside the garage to stay dry. Some days you might even think we were about to have a white Christmas.
Personally, I would vote for a nationwide holiday shift to now, rather than December.
Enough of my whinging though – it is just two short weeks before university beckons, and with work and travel taking up a chunk of that time, the days seem to be dwindling away all too fast. In the meantime, I will be found at home in the aforementioned sun, making everything possible with the aforementioned summer produce as my Mum complains regularly that I am making the family obese. Apparently dessert every day isn’t normal. But I figure a crumble has fruit in it, as does chocolate cherry brownies, and blueberry scones, and apricot cake – so it has to be okay, right? Just a more advanced version of a fruit salad?
I managed to placate her momentarily with this green tuna salad the other night, however. Inspired by Ottolenghi, an all-green bowl of grilled zucchini, broad beans, snow peas, french beans and baby spinach is taken up a notch with the addition of coriander, avocado and goat’s feta. A sesame oil, lime and chilli dressing, nigella seeds and black sesame seeds (which although look very similar, are not the same at all) boost it onto a level so different from a “green salad” that it really shouldn’t be called that at all. Even if it is a VERY green salad. Any combination of greens can be used – if you are making it in spring, swap the zucchini for asparagus, or try peas rather than broad beans.
Seared sesame-crusted yellowfin tuna topped it off – seasoned with salt and pepper, rolled in sesame seeds to coat and cooked briefly on a barbecue hot plate, it really doesn’t get easier. If tuna is not budget friendly or available where you are, try salmon, barbecued chicken or poached eggs. And of course, in my book, no salad is complete without a side of crusty, hot ciabatta.
- 3-4 zucchini
- 300 g broad beans (I used frozen)
- 2 handfuls snow peas
- 250 g beans
- 80 g baby spinach (a couple of handfuls)
- 1 shallot , thinly sliced
- 1 cup coriander , chopped
- 1-2 avocados , cut into chunks
- 100 g feta
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon lime juice
- 3/4 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon mixed black and white sesame seeds , toasted
- 1 teaspoon nigella seeds
- 1 red chilli , finely diced
- 450 g yellowfin tuna (about 150g per person)
- sesame seeds to coat
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
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You can cook the zucchini in a fry pan or on barbecue grill bars. Slice the zucchini lengthways into strips (see photo). Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay in a single layer on a hot oven pan or grill bars. Cook for a few minutes on each side or until golden patches appear and the zucchini is tender.
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Cook the broad beans (if frozen, according to packet instructions) and remove from the pod.
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Lightly steam the snow peas and beans in the microwave for a minute and then rinse in cold water (or to your liking).
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In a large bowl, combine the grilled zucchini, broad beans, snow peas, beans, spinach, shallot, coriander, avocado and feta.
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To cook the tuna, season each piece of fish with salt and pepper and then coat in sesame seeds (put sesame seeds on a plate and then roll the fish in it to coat). Heat a barbecue flat plate or pan to medium-high. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil . Cook tuna for 1 1/2 minutes on each side (for medium rare) or to your liking. Transfer to a chopping board and cut into 5mm slices.
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Mix together the dressing ingredients and toss through the salad.
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Arrange the salad on plates and top with sliced tuna.
This salad looks fantastic! I love seared tuna so I will have to make this asap!
Gorgeous photos, Claudia! And seared tuna? Wow! I’ve actually never tried fresh tuna (but eat sooo much of the stuff out of a little can…sitting at my desk at work…eugh) so am really keen to challenge myself and give it a go at some point. That delicious salad looks like the perfect way to serve it. Oh and that plate? I want it! Such a simple design but sooo elegant.
Thanks Lisa! Funnily enough I can’t stand canned tuna but LOVE the fresh stuff – definitely give it a go, it is an entirely different flavour and so easy to cook. And I actually just found the plate that day when I was looking for a plate with a matte finish so it is less shiny in photos – I figured a few dollars for an individual plate is worth it for the amount of use it will get as a prop!
I love your writing and I love this recipe. I would much rather gobble down a plate of this to get my greens in than my lumpy green smoothie sitting in front of me 🙁 I am loving all this summer produce: stonefruits and avocado are making it into my diet almost daily at the moment! Hope you enjoy your last days of holidays in NZ! x
Thanks so much Hannah! and YES so much avocado at the moment, I love it. I can only drink a certain type of green smoothie – I can add lots of spinach as long as there is enough frozen fruit that I can’t really taste it haha! What do you put in yours? 🙂
Hahaha same! At the moment, I’m going banana-less because of all the delish mango and nectarines! Then I just add some cucumber, zucchini and spinach. I actually find all-fruit smoothies to be sickly sweet because all the fruit is so damn ripe and juicy and sweet right now ahah… sub-tropical climate problems O_O
Well it’s cold as heck here and snowed over the weekend… but im not complaining! I love it! And I looove this salad! Seared tuna is the jam and this green salad has got it going on! Totally not waiting for warmer weather around here to devour this! Pinned! Cheers, girlfriend!
At least your winters come with snow, which is fun and you can wrap up all warm and cozily – ours just get rainy and windy, but since it isn’t below zero no one ends up wearing enough layers and we end up cold and wet haha! Thanks so much Cheyanne! (and the pin button should be on the image in the top left corner – let me know if you still can’t find it and I will try to figure it out!)
….don’t see a pin for this, my dear. 🙁
This seriously looks like it stepped out of a restaurant! What a truly beautiful salad! And the tuna looks like it has been cooked to perfection. I had to laugh at your mum, I know how they feel! Sometimes I feel like I’m just telling everyone to eat all the time! Haha
Hahah yeah, I do sometimes have to rein it in – a sweet breakfast, and baking in the day, and dessert doesn’t make it easy to stay the same size haha! Thanks so much Jessica 🙂
That tuna is literally cooked perfectly. Now hopefully I can imitate it (fingers crossed :):):) Who knew New Zealand even had bad weather!? I picture it being rainbows and butterflies all year round……. Seriously! You should check out Missouri and then maybe you’ll understand where I am coming from 😉
It is certainly very green, with lots of rainbows- but mainly because we also get lots of rain haha! Definitely worth a visit though, some of our scenery is just breath-taking, especially in the South Island near Queenstown and Milford Sound. Thanks Julia!
It is so hard for me to imagine summer weather this time of year! I feel like having to go to work and school during the best part of the year is such a bummer. Although most people do have to work during the summer here, it always has a bit of a vacationy feel, like people can’t wait to get out and enjoy the weather. This salad is perfection! It looks so refreshing and healthy, and I love that seared tuna. Gorgeous!
I WANT!!!! Like seriously now. Can I also mention how beautiful your food photography is?! Seriously in love girl 🙂
It looks like we both had seared tuna on the mind this week 😉 I think I could eat it everyday… SO freakin’ good! I’m loving all the greens that look so gorgeous next to that beautiful tuna! And the citrus based dressing is perfect to tie it all together! A gorgeous dish my dear!
This remind me Japanese food I used to eat back in Japan. This is called Tataki in Japanese and my mom often made for dinner may be in tuna season every 2-3 days. I found it is hard to get fresh one though in Australia. I guess it is easier to get fresh tuna in New Zealand? The tuna looks fresh and yummy:D
This remind me Japanese food I used to eat back in Japan. This is called Tataki in Japanese and my mom often made for dinner may be in tuna season every 2-3 days. I found it is hard to get fresh one though in Australia. I guess it is easier to get fresh tuna in New Zealand? The tuna looks fresh and yummy:D