Seared Ahi Tuna with Chimichurri — Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Delicious

Welcome back to Sunday Scratchups, your weekly recipe from scratch around grocery sales and affordable ingredients. This week I picked up a beautiful piece of Ahi tuna at my local Fresh Thyme for $4.97/lb on their grand opening double ad Wednesday, and they also had bunches of parsley for just $.50 each.

Well, doesn’t that just cry out for Seared Ahi Tuna with Chimichurri? This recipe was inspired by the seared tuna with chimichurri over at Kitchen Confidante, but with my own less chunky, cilantro-free, chimichurri plus a spinach-based salad.

Yes, I’m one of those unfortunate people for whom cilantro tastes like soap, but what can you do? Chimichurri is plenty delicious made with parsley, but if you prefer to cilantro yours up instead, just have fun playing with the recipe — it’s not an exact science here; change it up for your own tastes.

I served our Seared Ahi Tuna with Chimichurri on a bed of mixed spinach & romaine, then added some sliced radishes, avocado, and green onions for garnish and their smooth-crunchy sharp-mellow contrast. Again, play with different lettuces and add-ons for a flavorful meal that’s pretty enough for date night yet super easy to put together.

Seared Ahi Tuna with Chimichurri

Ingredients

1 lb sushi grade Ahi tuna steak
leaves from one bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
handful fresh oregano leaves (substitute dried to taste if not available)
a few fresh basil leaves (substitute dried to taste if not available)
4 peeled garlic cloves
1 small jalapeño (omit if you don’t like yours spicy)
1/4 medium yellow onion
Juice from 1/2 a small lime
1/3 cup olive oil
2.5 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne (cut down or omit if you don’t like yours spicy)
black pepper to taste
Kosher salt to taste
Salad fixings of choice — I used spinach, romaine, radishes, green onions, and avocado

Directions

To make your chimichurri sauce: Add parsley, oregano, basil, garlic, jalapeño, onion, lime juice, olive oil, vinegar, cayenne, pepper, and salt to food processor and blend until fairly smooth.

To sear your tuna: Heat two tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Salt and pepper both sides of your tuna, then sear for two minutes per side over medium heat. Remove to cutting board and slice thinly against the grain.

To serve: Arrange tuna slices on a bed of salad greens of choice. Drizzle with chimichurri sauce and top the salad with whatever add-ons you have handy and sound tasty in this context. 🙂

Best. Dinner. Ever.

MashupDad and I enjoyed our Seared Ahi Tuna with Chimichurri while the munchkins ate chicken brats. That works! And this was sooo good, you guys, just an amazing combination of fresh flavors and textures. This 15 minute dinner recipe works equally well for a date night or weeknight meal!

Just note that the chimichurri recipe here is fairly spicy, so you will want to omit the jalapeño and cayenne if you’re sensitive to that — and the whole meal is naturally gluten free, dairy free, and low carb.

You’ll end up with a good bit of leftover chimichurri sauce, but this is a feature rather than a bug. Keep your chimichurri tightly covered in the refrigerator, and use it throughout the week to jazz up everything from burgers to grilled chicken to tacos to eggs. You can also thin it out slightly with a little more olive oil and vinegar to make a vibrant (and sugar free!) salad dressing.

Note: If you have concerns about seared tuna you can choose to cook yours all the way through, although you’ll lose some of the flavor and juiciness. I felt fairly confident in serving ours seared, since tuna is low risk and mine was previously frozen.

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Seared Ahi Tuna with Chimichurri -- Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Delicious

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The chimichurri recipe here is fairly spicy, so you will want to omit the jalapeño and cayenne if you’re sensitive to that — and the whole meal is naturally gluten free, dairy free, and low carb.

Course dinner

Total Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

• 1 lb sushi grade Ahi tuna steak
• leaves from one bunch fresh flat leaf parsley
• handful fresh oregano leaves substitute dried to taste if not available
• a few fresh basil leaves substitute dried to taste if not available
• 4 peeled garlic cloves
• 1 small jalapeño omit if you don't like yours spicy
• 1/4 medium yellow onion
• Juice from 1/2 a small lime
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2.5 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp cayenne cut down or omit if you don't like yours spicy
• black pepper to taste
• Kosher salt to taste
• Salad fixings of choice -- I used spinach romaine, radishes, green onions, and avocado

Instructions

To make your chimichurri sauce

• Add parsley, oregano, basil, garlic, jalapeño, onion, lime juice, olive oil, vinegar, cayenne, pepper, and salt to food processor and blend until fairly smooth.

To sear your tuna

• Heat two tablespoons olive oil over medium heat.
• Salt and pepper both sides of your tuna, then sear for two minutes per side over medium heat.
• Remove to cutting board and slice thinly against the grain.

To serve

• Arrange tuna slices on a bed of salad greens of choice.
• Drizzle with chimichurri sauce and top the salad with whatever add-ons you have handy and sound tasty in this context. 🙂