Girl (back) in the kitchen.

Hi, it's me again! Hard to believe it's been nearly three months. Work, wedding planning, and life have pushed blogging to the back burner. A coworker and I recently made a pact that we would both begin blogging again (she writes a fantastic blog about fashion for tall women); the goal is once per week - let's see how this goes.

I think one of the more valuable things I learned over the last few busy months is that sometimes you don't have to ask how you got somewhere - occasionally it's just better to press on and strive for improvement. In that spirit, let's pick up with a delicious meal from last week! For my birthday last year Nick's brother and sister-in-law got me a fantastic cookbook by Top Chef Stephanie Izard: Girl in the Kitchen. The photography is beautiful, and I'm getting excited for spring and summer (about time, New England) looking at seasonal recipes.

I adapted this recipe by adding some cold soba noodles for a little more dinner heft, and it was perfect. Tons of flavor but not overly heavy, this salad was the perfect transition into spring. The tangy dressing lightly pickles the crunchy radish slices, and the blueberries add a sweet pop of juicy flavor to balance the smoky seared tuna and bite from the sriracha.

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Seared Tuna with Blueberries and Snap Peas
(Serves 4)

Dressing:
3 T rice vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T minced shallot
1/2 lemon, zested
1 t Dijon mustard
1 t honey
1/4 t sriracha
salt
freshly ground pepper 

Salad
1 lb ahi tuna
1 T canola oil
salt
freshly ground pepper
8 oz sugar snap peas, cut on a bias (diagonal) into thin strips
1 c thinly sliced radish
1 c fresh blueberries
2/3 c chiffonade sorrel (I couldn't find sorrel, so I used baby spinach and doubled the amount)
1/2 c pine nuts, toasted
8 oz soba noodles, cooked

Whisk together vinegar, olive oil, shallot, lemon zest, mustard, honey, and sriracha in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Prepare your veggies: Nick's mom got me a mandoline slicer one year for Christmas, and I made great use of it to make paper-thin radish slices (you can also thinly slice with a regular knife). "Chiffonade" (or cut into strips) the sorrel or spinach into delicious confetti.

Season the tuna with salt and pepper. Heat a frying pan over high heat and add the canola oil just before searing the tuna (this will smoke like crazy - but only for a matter of seconds as this is really a flash in the pan). Sear each side for a minute and a half; the inside will be nice and rare. Transfer to a cutting board and cut into 1/4" slices (cut across the grain, or else it will fall apart).

Combine snap peas, radish, blueberries, sorrel/spinach, pine nuts, soba noodles, and dressing. Toss well. Lay seared tuna over the salad and serve.