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!

Sorry for the long hiatus — hopefully I’ll be back around here a bit more!

This is another recipe that comes from the cookbook I made for Jessica.  It was sent to me by her friend Carrie Geddie, who found the original recipe at All Recipes. It’s a delicious vegetarian lasagna, and was one of Matt’s favorites of the recipes we sampled. I’m sure it would also be a great make-ahead and freeze to cook as needed type of meal. Thanks for sharing, Carrie!

Artichoke Spinach Lasagne

9 uncooked lasagna noodles
1 T olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (14.5 ounce) can vegetable broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
1 (14 ounce) can marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained and squeezed dry
1 (28 ounce) jar tomato marinara sauce
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 (4 ounce) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 9″ x 13″ casserole dish with cooking spray or butter.

Boil a large pot of salted water. Cook noodles according to package directions or until al dente. Drain and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute onion and garlic for a few minutes, until onion is translucent. Add in broth and fresh rosemary. Bring to a boil. Stir in artichoke hearts and spinach. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in jar of marinara sauce.

Spread 1/4 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Top with 3 cooked noodles. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese over noodles. Repeat layers 2 more times, ending with tomato sauce mixture. Sprinkle crumbled feta on top.

Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, and bake 15 minutes more, until hot and bubbly and the cheese is beginning to brown. Let it rest 10 minutes before serving.