Grilled Seared Tuna Steak

My favorite dish to get at a restaurant is seared tuna, especially served with a ponzu sauce or some sort of Asian inspired sauce. In college, I loved this one seared tuna dish at the Lost Dog Café.  It was a sandwich called the Voodoo Ahi Tuna. Instead of a ponzu sauce, it was seared tuna with garlic mayo. Add some sweet potato fries and you got an amazing dish. Looking for something a tad healthier, I decided to make a grilled seared tuna steak for dinner for myself and my favorite sous chef. The verdict – We will definitely keep this dish in our dinner rotation. Also, it is a fast meal to make for a weeknight meal. This comes in especially handy as work has started up again.



Grilled Seared Tuna Steak
A Polka Dot Chef Original

2 Tuna Steaks
1 cup Marinade – I used Teriyaki with Garlic Sauce
3 cloves of garlic sliced
2 cups Sesame Seeds


Place marinade in gallon sized freezer bag along with the 3 cloves of garlic. Put tuna steaks in bag and place in refrigerator for 20 minutes. Place sesame seeds on a plate. Coat tuna steaks in sesame seeds. Heat grill pan. When hot, place tuna on grill pan, cooking about 4-5 minutes per side to be seared rare. Sidebar – I like my tuna rare. Cook your tuna steak longer if you would like it more done. Served in this picture with sautéed spinach and zucchini.

Zucchini and Eggplant Pasta

I’m always looking for new and creative recipes for dinner, especially ones that are relatively healthy. In addition, I love the flavors of zucchini and eggplant together in a tomato sauce. It reminds me of ratatouille. The original recipe had goat cheese sprinkled on top of this wonderful creation, however, my favorite sous chef and I both agree that the flavors were perfect just the way they were. This dish will definitely be a household favorite.

Zucchini and Eggplant Noodles with Shrimp

Inspired by Cara's Cravings

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 of a small onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 lb raw shrimp, thawed, peeled, deveined
Freshly ground salt & pepper
28 oz diced tomatoes
Pinch of crushed red pepper
2 tsp chopped fresh basil
About 2-3 zucchini (make into noodles with a vegetable peeler, will look like pappadelle )
½ of an eggplant (make into noodles using a vegetable peeler, will look like pappadelle)


Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the shrimp and garlic. Cook the shrimp for about 1 minute on each side, until just opaque. Remove the shrimp from the pan. Add the tomatoes, crushed red pepper, and basil. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the zucchini and eggplant and saute over medium heat until slightly softened, about 3 minutes, then add the shrimp and heat through, about 1-2 minutes more.


***If you want to use a prepared sauce, remove the crushed tomatoes, crushed red pepper, and basil from the recipe. ***