Healthy and good: Seared tuna with favas & yogurt mint sauce

I've been eating too much bad stuff lately. Burgers, ribs, cream sauces, and pastries have made up a disproportionate percentage of my diet. It's time to get back to simple, delicious and healthy food. The good news is that this doesn't really have to mean sacrifice. My wife tells me that tonight's dinner was among her favorite dishes I've ever made. Start to finish it took less than an hour, and I really thought the colors, flavors, and textures all bursted with vividness. It's not a complex dish, but I think the simplicity is what makes it so good.

Really good fresh favas purchased at Fox & Obel:


After removing the beans from the pods, I blanched them for 30 seconds, shocked them in an ice bath, and removed the white inner shell to expose the bright green beans. Then I stirred up a quick sauce with Blue Marble yogurt, Nichols Farm fresh mint, and cheap garlic from the Cermak grocery store.

Ingredients for yogurt mint sauce:


I also boiled some small red potatoes in salt water, and seared some very fresh tuna seasoned with just salt and pepper. I plated it by spreading some sauce on the dish, topping with the tuna, scattering some favas and potatoes, and pouring the good, fruity Spanish olive oil from the tuna pan over the whole thing.

Plated dish:


Interior view:

Looks light, Spring-y. and delicious, Kennyz!

I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful favas for sale at a grocery store before...

Thanks for the inspiration.

Bridgestone wrote:I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful favas for sale at a grocery store before...

Yes, the favas look particularly delicious, as does the overall dish. Nailed the tuna he did, nailed the tuna.

Enjoy,
Gary 'you can't tune a fish' Wiviott

Bridgestone wrote:Looks light, Spring-y. and delicious, Kennyz!

I don't think I've ever seen such beautiful favas for sale at a grocery store before...

Thanks for the inspiration.

Bridgestone,

Glad to have been able to offer even a bit of inspiration to someone who has provided so much of it yourself.

I usually find the Fox & Obel produce section relatively useless, and -in fact - a few days ago I saw favas there that just looked so sad, I wondered why they even bothered. I suspect that I lucked out yesterday, arriving just after they received a fresh delivery, and not after what seems the more usual practice of finding things that have been sitting on the produce shelf for days or weeks. It's the first time I've bought favas anywhere but the local farmer's market; hesitant as I was to do it, these were fantastic and I'm glad I did.

Kenny

Caputo's on Harlem had them as of last weekend. Not cheap though. I think they were $2.99 (don't hold me to this), which equates to about $15/lb once you shell them.

teatpuller wrote:Caputo's on Harlem had them as of last weekend. Not cheap though. I think they were $2.99 (don't hold me to this), which equates to about $15/lb once you shell them.

$2.99 was the F&O price as well. I was really just using the favas as an accent, and half a pound for $1.50 gave me plenty. Unfortunately, the tuna was its usual crazy price, but yesterday the convenience of Fox & Obel won out over my usual value-seeking nature.