Here is a super quick and healthy summer meal!  The dish has lots of flavor from the tomatoes, olives, and lemon juice.  What a fresh and summery combination.

I used sushi-grade tuna from my favorite fish store — The Lobster Place — and served it rare to medium-rare.

Delicious!  And, you can’t beat the cleanup of a one-pot dish.
Pan-Seared Tuna Steaks with Warm Tomato, Basil & Olive Salad
Fine Cooking

• 4 5-oz. boneless, skinless tuna steaks
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium shallot, finely chopped
• 2 cups mixed yellow and red grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup sliced pitted green olives, such as picholine or Cerignola
• 2 Tbs. finely chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Season the tuna with 1 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper.  Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Arrange the tuna in the skillet in a single layer and cook, turning once, until done to your liking (3 to 4 minutes for medium rare).  Transfer the tuna to a large plate.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the shallot to the skillet.  Cook, stirring, until golden-brown, about 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes, olives, basil, 1/2 tsp. salt, and a few grinds of pepper; cook until warmed through and the tomatoes are just softened, about 2 minutes more.  Remove the skillet from the heat and gently stir in the lemon juice.

Transfer the tuna to plates, top with the tomato salad, and serve.

Here is a a quick and easy Asian-flavored salmon dish.  The simple marinade — honey, soy sauce, Chinese Five-Spice Powder, and garlic — is packed with flavor.

Five-spice powder is a mixture of — you guessed it — five spices.  Typically, it contains cinnamon, cloves, fennel seed, star anise, and Sichuan peppercorns (white pepper or ginger are common substitutes).  The spice blend encompasses all five flavors of sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, and salty, lending lots of flavor to the dish.

The great thing about the dish is that you broil the salmon and the green beans on the same baking sheet so there is little clean up.  I would suggest using haricot vert instead of regular green beans as they are thinner and will cook more quickly.

A light and flavorful dish — perfect as springtime approaches!

Five-Spice-Glazed Salmon with Sesame Green Beans
Fine Cooking

• 1/4 cup honey
• 4 tsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1-1/2 tsp. five-spice powder
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• Four 6-oz. skin-on salmon fillets (preferably wild), pin bones and scales removed
• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 lb. slender green beans, trimmed
• 2 tsp. canola oil
• 1 tsp. Asian sesame oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbs. toasted sesame seeds
• 1 tsp. lemon juice

In a small bowl, whisk the honey, soy sauce, five-spice powder, and garlic. Put the salmon skin side down on a large plate and pour the honey mixture over it. Flip the fillets so they are skin side up. Let the fish marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Position a rack 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler on high. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, toss the green beans with the canola and sesame oils. Arrange the beans on one half of the prepared baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Arrange the salmon skin side down on the other half of the baking sheet. Brush the salmon with any remaining marinade from the plate.

Broil the salmon and green beans for 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, toss the green beans with tongs, and reposition the salmon pieces as needed so that they cook evenly. Continue to broil until the salmon is just cooked through and the beans are crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Toss the green beans with the sesame seeds and lemon juice and serve.