You want to use the thickest piece of tuna you can find, and high quality since it’s only going to be barely seared. At our local fish market, we were able to get a piece that was 2″ thick, which was perfect.

The only other trick is to get the grill very hot. You only want to be able to hold your hand up to the fire for about 1-2 seconds; that’s how you know it’s hot enough. Other than that, all this needs is a couple summer vegetables (we served it with simply prepared squash and zucchini, a recipe I’ll share soon) and some friends to share it with.

Seared Tuna
This rub is a variation on our favorite rub for steak, with the addition of lemon zest.

2 cloves of garlic
zest of 1 lemon
rosemary or basil, finely chopped
salt
freshly ground black pepper
high quality tuna steak(s), at least 1″ thick and preferably thicker

Make a paste of garlic, lemon zest, and equal parts (same as the garlic) herbs, salt, and pepper. (It’ll be about a half a tablespoon or so of each, but we just eyeball it.) Two cloves of garlic and the zest of one lemon, with equal parts of the other ingredients, meant we had about the right amount of rub for our 2″ thick steak, so if you’re making more, you can just scale everything up. Rub this on all sides of the tuna.

Let sit at room temperature while you prepare the grill. We like to use a charcoal grill for the flavor, though gas would be fine too. Once the grill is very hot, sear the tuna for a minute and a half per side. If it’s thick, you may need to do the edges for another thirty seconds or so each. Remove from the heat and let rest for a few minutes.

Slice thinly against the grain and serve.

Like the Artichoke Spinach Lasagne, this recipe comes from Jessica’s friend Carrie. I’ve tried several recipes for fish tacos in the past (this one we’ve posted before is also pretty good), but I think these are my favorites. Though it has a lot of components to assemble, the actual cooking time is pretty quick. We’ve adapted them a bit from Carrie’s original recipe, and they allow a lot of room for modification.

And a tip for using the extra chipotles in adobo you’ll have leftover: chop some and combine with drained greek yogurt, garlic, and salt for a fiery but delicious dip for multi-grain chips. (This one comes from my friend Oliver, and I’ll try to share a more formal “recipe” at some point.)

Carrie Geddie’s Fish Tacos
Carrie says, “Everything tastes better after the flavors have had a chance to meld, so plan on leftovers.”

Honey-Lime Slaw
1/3 c fresh lime juice
2 T honey
1 T vegetable oil
1 t ground cumin
2 c three-color coleslaw blend
1/4 c cilantro

Chipotle Mayo
1/2 c mayonnaise or sour cream
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 T adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
1/4 t salt

Fish
4 tilapia filets (or other white fish such as mahi, grouper, etc. Carrie also says that frozen breaded tilapia works well)

about 8 small corn of flour tortillas
mango, cut into chunks (optional)

For Honey Lime Slaw: whisk together lime juice, honey, vegetable oil, and ground cumin in a small bowl. Pour over coleslaw and cilantro. Mix thoroughly.  Do this first and allow to sit in the refrigerator for a bit for all the flavors to meld.

For the Chipotle Mayo: Place all mayonnaise ingredients together in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Cover, and refrigerate until needed.

For the fish: if using fresh tilapia, sprinkle with cumin, a small amount of cayenne pepper, and salt. Heat a small amount of olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook the fish about 3-4 minutes per side, until it flakes easily with a fork. Remove from the pan and flake it into bite-sized pieces. (If using other kinds of fish, cook according to your preferences, or the package instructions if using frozen fish.)

Assembly: Heat the tortillas, one or two per taco in a skillet until warm. Add some fish, slaw, chipotle mayo, and mango, if using, to each taco. Carrie suggests serving with Spanish rice and beans, though you can see we went the lazy, unhealthy route and just served it with tortilla chips!

I originally found this in an old Cooking Light magazine, and it’s become one of our go-to, easy meals, perfect for spring or summer.  It’s super fast and simple, but it’s delicious and elegant enough for company.  We most recently served it for an early birthday celebration for my mom.  You can easily substitute out the cilantro for whatever is in season or on hand, and I’m just thinking lime zest instead of lemon would be a tasty substitution as well; you could also use any mild fish instead of the tilapia.  It went great with the fresh peas we found at the farmer’s market.  Delicious, fresh, simple, and with tilapia, usually pretty inexpensive, too!

Tilapia with Cilantro Butter

Adapted from Cooking Light

4 fillets of tilapia
1 t cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
4 T butter, softened
4 T cilantro, finely chopped
1 lemon
1/2 t paprika
salt
cooking spray

Into the butter, mix in the cilantro, the zest from the lemon, the paprika, and a sprinkling of salt. Set aside.

Sprinkle the tilapia on both sides with cumin and cayenne pepper. (The amounts I give are approximate; I just give a few good shakes of cumin and a bit of cayenne.) Preheat a large skillet or griddle over medium high heat. Spray the griddle and both sides of the fish with cooking spray. Cook over medium high, about 4 minutes per side, until fish turns opaque and flakes easily with a fork. Resist the urge to move it around as it cooks, or the tilapia will completely fall apart.

Squirt lemon juice over the fish, and serve with the cilantro butter.