Seared tuna and broad bean salad recipe

Preparation and cooking time: 30 minutes

 

400 g piece tuna steak, about 5 cm thick

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice, or to taste

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1 can cannellini beans, about 410 g, drained and rinsed

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

2 red capsicums, seeded and thinly sliced

1/2 telegraph cucumber, about 200 g

100 g watercress, trimmed

salt and pepper

lemon wedges to serve

 

1 Brush a ridged cast-iron grill pan or heavy frying pan (preferably cast-iron) with a little oil and heat over a moderate heat. Season the tuna steak on both sides with coarsely ground black pepper.

 

2 Sear the fish in the hot pan over a moderately high heat for 4 minutes on each side – the outside should be browned and criss-crossed with dark lines from the grill pan, while the inside should be light pink in the centre. Take care not to overcook the tuna or it will become tough and dry. Remove from the pan and leave to rest while preparing the rest of the salad.

 

3 Mix together the oil, lemon juice, garlic and mustard in a salad bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add more lemon juice, if needed. Add the cannellini beans, onion and capsicums to the bowl. Cut the cucumber into quarters lengthwise, then cut the quarters across into 1 cm slices. Add them to the salad bowl together with the watercress. Toss the salad gently to mix.

 

4 Cut the tuna into slices about 1 cm thick. Arrange the slices on top of the salad and spoon up a little of the dressing over the fish. Serve with lemon wedges.

 

Each serving provides 1591 kJ, 380 kcal, 32 g protein, 17 g fat (3 g saturated fat), 26 g carbohydrate (11 g sugars), 9 g fibre