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Sesame-Crusted Seared Tuna Salad with Egg and Ginger Dressing

Tuna steaks pressed into sesame seeds and seared for a minute each side, sliced over crisp lettuce, cherry tomatoes, cucumber and soft-boiled egg with a ginger and sesame dressing. 48g of protein, ready in 25 minutes.

Lunch

25

Serves 2

Slices of sesame-crusted seared tuna with pink centres on a salad of lettuce, cherry tomatoes and halved boiled eggs with a ginger dressing

Ingredients

  • 2 fresh tuna steaks (about 150g/5oz each and 2.5cm/1in thick), sold as suitable for eating raw, or previously frozen, if you want them pink in the middle
  • 20g/2 tbsp sesame seeds (white, black or a mix)
  • 1 tsp (5ml) rapeseed (canola) oil
  • A pinch of salt and black pepper
  • 2 medium eggs (US large)
  • 120g/4oz crisp lettuce, such as iceberg or romaine (cos), torn
  • 150g/5oz cherry tomatoes, halved
  • Half a cucumber (about 120g/4oz), sliced
  • Half a yellow or red pepper (bell pepper, about 75g/2½oz), sliced
  • For the dressing
  • 1 tbsp (15ml) reduced-salt tamari (labelled gluten-free)
  • 2 tsp (10ml) toasted sesame oil
  • 2 tsp (10ml) lemon or lime juice
  • 1 tsp (7g) runny honey
  • 2cm/¾in piece ginger (about 10g), finely grated

Method

  1. Bring a small pan of water to the boil. Lower in the eggs and boil for 7 minutes, then cool in cold water for 3 minutes, peel and halve.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk the dressing ingredients together, and arrange the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and pepper on 2 plates.
  3. Pat the tuna dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Spread the sesame seeds on a plate and press both sides of each steak into them.
  4. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over a high heat until very hot. Sear the tuna for 1 to 1½ minutes on each side for a pink centre, or 3 to 4 minutes each side if you prefer it cooked through. Lift onto a board, rest for 1 minute, then cut into slices about 1cm/½in thick.
  5. Lay the tuna and eggs on the salad and spoon over the dressing. Eat straight away.
  6. If you are pregnant, cook the tuna through rather than leaving it pink, and the NHS advises no more than 2 tuna steaks or 4 medium cans of tuna a week during pregnancy because of mercury. In the UK, runny yolks are considered safe for pregnant women, young children and older people only with British Lion eggs; elsewhere, use pasteurised eggs or boil for 9 minutes.

Why it works

A plate has about 48g of protein and only 12g of carbohydrate for 415 calories. Yellowfin tuna, the type most often sold as steaks, is very lean, with less than 1g of fat per 100g, so most of the fat comes from the sesame seeds, egg and dressing.

How to sear tuna. The pan must be very hot so the sesame crust toasts before the inside cooks. A minute or so on each side leaves the centre pink; longer cooks it through but makes it drier. Buy steaks at least 2.5cm/1in thick, so there is room for a crust and a pink middle.

Is pink tuna safe? A pink centre is effectively raw fish. Choose very fresh tuna sold as suitable for eating raw, or tuna that has been frozen first, and keep it cold until you cook it. If you are pregnant or have a weakened immune system, cook it through.

Mercury. Tuna is a large predatory fish and contains more mercury than fish such as salmon, sardines or mackerel. For most adults, a tuna steak now and then is fine, but variety matters. More on this in high-mercury fish.

Toasted sesame seeds add crunch and flavour. Contains fish, egg, sesame and soy. For another fish lunch, try the tuna Niçoise salad or the salmon poke bowl.