There’s a time and a place for three, four, or even five course meals. Reunions with old college buddies, a relaxing evening with the girlfriend (or a stressful try-to-impress evening with the hopeful), or when your parents decide to come to town and you can get them to foot the bill are all perfect examples. I’m single, live with my best friend from college, and most of my family is entrenched on the eastern seaboard. Needless to say weeknights at my apartment are definitely not occasions for bust your gut dining. As such, I often find myself dusting off cans of whatever was on sale a few months ago and concocting whatever I can get, out of whatever I can find. Sometimes it’s delicious, sometimes it’s awful, but usually it’s decent. Last night was one of those delicious times. It was super quick, easy, healthy, and – well, like I said, delicious.
This recipe was inspired by my trip to New York over the weekend. We had sushi for dinner one night, and it got me thinking about the differences and similarities between East Coast and West Coast dining. I wanted to make a simple dish that incorporated classic sushi flavors, and didn’t require sticky rice, as it can be hard to get right, and ruin your sushi if gotten wrong.
Just a quick note: I don’t often measure when I cook, but I understand not everyone trusts themselves enough to “eyeball it”, so I’ll add estimated measurements where appropriate.
Serves One
Ingredients:
1/2 medium sized sweet onion (chopped)
1 TBS Olive oil
1 can of white albacore tuna packed in water
1 large handful of fresh green beans
2 TBS Low-sodium soy sauce
1 dash of Sesame Oil
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
Process:
Chop half the onion and take HALF OF THAT and sauté it over medium heat in a pan with the olive oil. It’s already sweet onion, so you’re not looking to brown them and make them any sweeter. You just want to get the crunch out. It should only take a few minutes before they start to go limp.
While the onion is doing it’s thing in the pan, whisk together the sesame oil (this stuff is potent, so you only need a VERY quick pour from the bottle) and soy sauce in a small bowl. In a larger bowl, mix the remaining onion and tuna. Pour the soy mixture over the tuna and mix thoroughly. Grind some fresh black pepper over the mixture and mix it up again.
Put your big handful of green beans in the bowl you’ll be eating from, and dish out the tuna mixture on top of that. The onions in your pan should be ready about now, so scoop those puppies out and place them on top of the tuna mix.
That’s it. You’re done. Hopefully it didn’t take more than 10 minutes. Just a few things to think about though. Frozen green beans work just as well for this recipe as fresh, just make sure you thaw them out out in the microwave and give them time to cool off before serving. Don’t, however, try to use canned green beans. They have their uses, but this is not one of them. Everyone has preferences about the amount of salt and pepper in their food, so feel free to add more pepper or soy sauce as you see fit.
Enjoy!
Vagabond 