Weekly Grilling Thread & Recipe: Broiled Tuna Stuffed w/ Spinach & Sun-Dried Tomatoes

[KathrynY]

So what’s everyone grilling this week? Any tasty things to share from last week? We made this for dinner last night, and thought it was excellent. It was not as time-consuming as you might think either. I followed the grilling instructions and used a few toothpicks to hold the stuffing in while it cooked. :)

Broiled Tuna Stuffed with Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
The Whole Foods Market Cookbook

This Mediterranean-touched dish offers a surprise gift of sun-dried tomatoes, spinach, and capers discreetly tucked inside the tuna steak. A small pocket in the tuna is easily made with a paring knife. Broiling allows the flavors stuffed inside to permeate the entire tuna steak. If you prefer grilling the stuffed tuna steak, soak a toothpick in water for thirty minutes prior to grilling, and use it to seal the pocket. This will hold in the stuffing without burning the toothpick. Try this recipe with other firm fish steaks, such as halibut, swordfish, and salmon.

The Mediterranean Marinade

1/8 cup extra-virgin olive oil
¼ cup dry white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Freshly ground pepper to taste

2 pounds fresh tuna, cut into 4 steaks, 1 ½ to 2 inches thick

The Spinach-Sun-Dried-Tomato Filling

½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, including the oil
1/8 cup capers
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups chopped fresh and washed spinach
1 ½ tablespoons pine nuts
¼ cup chopped parsley
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

TO PREPARE THE MEDITERRANEAN MARINADE

Mix the olive oil, white wine, garlic, Dijon mustard, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add the tuna steaks, and marinate in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour, turning occasionally.

TO PREPARE THE SPINACH-SUN-DRIED-TOMATO FILLING

Mix the sun-dried tomatoes, capers, garlic, spinach, pine nuts, parsley, and salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Preheat the broiler.

Remove the tuna from the marinade, and place it on a broiling pan. Carefully cut a horizontal slit in the center of each piece of tuna, without going through to the other side. You should now have a small pocket for the filling. Stuff each pocket with the sun-dried tomato mixture.

Place the tuna under the broiler for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and cooked to medium doneness inside. Be careful not to overcook the tuna.

PER SERVING: CALORIES 350; CALORIES FROM FAT 80; CALORIES FROM SATURATED FAT 15; PROTEIN 60G; CARBOHYDRATE 7G; TOTAL FAT 9G; SATURATED FAT 1.5G; CHOLESTEROL 110MG; SODIUM 390MG; 23% CALORIES FROM FAT.

[erin elizabeth]

That sounds really good Kathryn. I've copied it into my weekly recipe file!

I grilled some marinated chicken breasts yesterday with this marinade--

Armenian Herb Marinade

1/2 c oil (I use half olive and half regular)
1/2 c tomato juice
1/2 c chopped onion
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp thyme
1/4 c chopped parsley
1/4 c lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2+cloves garlic, chopped

Makes enough for 2.5-3 pounds chicken.

Yum! One of my favorites--the longer it marinates, the better. I like to do it overnight. When cooking--shake off the bigger bits of onions, garlic, parsley, etc., but a little for scorching is yummy :)

[shscharles]

Lessee, Friday night we grilled sausages from a local butcher who makes his own (Nick's of Clinton). DH had "Hot Sausage, guaranteed to make your eyes weep and the back of our neck sweat"...it did. I had the Bratwurst...mar-VO-lus!

Saturday DH brought home a pound of jumbo shrimp...I marinated it in Soy Vay Teriyaki and grilled on skewers...delish.

Last night Grilled salmon with Honey wasabi glaze from WW Take Out Tonight. DH thought the glaze was too sweet but loved the salmon. I thought it was really good (what does he know anyway?) The real winner was mushrooms I just did with what I had.

1 pound of mushrooms, halved. In a bowl put shrooms, about 1 TB fresh thyme, 2 or 3 garlic cloves, minced, S&P and drizzle with olive oil. Put on foil (not wrapped) and cook at medium indirect for about 25 minutes total. I Put the salmon on at the 15 minute mark and everything came out perfectly at the same time.

I am loving this grill!

:D

[Kalna]

Hi,

A friend served this chicken kabob dish a few days ago. It is very good and easy to prepare.

Chunks of boneless chicken breast
bacon
maple syrup

Wrap a half slice of bacon around chicken chunk. Put wrapped chicken on skewers and place in shallow bowl. Drizzle with maple syrup. Grill until bacon is crisp and chicken is done.

I used maple flavor bacon.

Carolyn

[kwormann]

We are grilling swordfish steaks tonight with olive oil, garlic, cinnamon and oregano. Im going to serve greek salad with it:)

[Wendy w]

Kathryn, that looks great! Need to dig out my Whole Foods Cookbook again soon. :o

Saturday, I made the Lebanese Kafta from the summer issue of Eating Well. MMM!!
http://community.cookinglight.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42886&highlight=kafta

Last night, some friends had an impromptu bbq and I marinated a sirloin in merlot, worcestershire, redwine vinegar, and garlic. The meat was tasty and tender. The real fun part was using my new bbq wok. I marinated mushrooms, grape tomatoes, zucchini, yellow squash, broccoli, yellow and red peppers, and red onions in Trader Joe's Lemon Thyme marinade. We all loved it, especially the peppers.

Later on this week, I'm going to attempt to grill a whole chicken.

[lbrisch]

Saturday I grilled Basil Flatbread with Roasted Tomatoes and Basil Oil from Epicurious. It was delish!

1/3 cup warm water (105°F to 115°F)
1 teaspoon dry yeast
1 Pinch sugar
2/3 cup all purpose flour
2/3 cup water, room temperature
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, or more if needed
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil (I used 1 TBS dried as I wouldn't have enough fresh for the basil oil)
BASIL OIL (recipe below)
ROASTED TOMATOES (recipe below)

Pour 1/3 cup warm water into large bowl. Sprinkle yeast and sugar over; let stand until mixture is foamy, about 10 minutes.

Mix 2/3 cup flour and 2/3 cup room-temperature water into yeast mixture. Cover and let stand 20 minutes.

Stir olive oil and salt into yeast mixture. Mix in 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until slightly sticky dough forms. Add basil. Knead on floured surface until smooth and elastic, adding more flour by tablespoonfuls if dough is too sticky, about 10 minutes. Oil large bowl. Add dough; turn to coat. Cover with plastic. Let rise in warm area until doubled, about 45 minutes.

Punch dough down. Turn out onto floured surface. Divide in half; knead each piece just until smooth. (AT THIS POINT, I WRAPPED IN PLASTIC AND PUT IN FRIDGE - PUT IN A PLASTIC BAG AS THEY WILL STILL RISE AND ESCAPE FROM THE PLASTIC WRAP - WHEN I WAS READY, I LET IT COME TO ROOM TEMP) Cover with towel; let rise until almost doubled, 20 minutes.

Prepare barbecue (medium-high heat). Roll out each dough piece on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer each to separate baking sheet. Brush top side with Basil Oil. Place bread, oiled side down, on barbecue. Grill until bottom is golden brown, about 1 1/2 minutes. Brush top of bread with Basil Oil. Using tongs, turn bread over; grill until golden, about 1 1/2 minutes. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover loosely with foil; let stand at room temperature. Before continuing, prepare barbecue; use medium-high heat.)

Brush breads with some Basil Oil. Arrange Roasted Tomatoes on breads. Loosely cover breads with foil; grill until heated through, watching closely, about 4 minutes. Drizzle with more Basil Oil. Cut each bread into 6 pieces.

BASIL OIL
1 1/2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed)
3/4 cup olive oil

Blanch basil in medium saucepan of boiling water 10 seconds. Drain. Rinse under cold water. Pat basil dry with paper towels. Transfer to blender. Add oil; puree until smooth. Transfer to small bowl. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before using.)

ROASTED TOMATOES
6 large red and/or yellow tomatoes, each cut crosswise in half (I used 2 14.5 oz cans of whole tomatoes - cut in half and seeded)
4 fresh thyme sprigs
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup olive oil


Preheat oven to 350°F. Oil 13 x 9 x 2-inch glass baking dish. Arrange tomatoes, cut side up, in dish. Place thyme in dish. Sprinkle with garlic and salt and pepper. Drizzle with oil. Bake until tomatoes are slightly brown around edges, about 45 minutes. Cool. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Makes enough to top 2 large flatbreads.

This is a sticky dough but I would make it again. I used more flour than stated (to keep it from sticking) and kneaded it in my stand mixer for 5 minutes.


Lisa