Summer Living

This was dinner tonight. I love this time of year--produce is bountiful, whether it comes from my own garden or from someone else's. I bought the zucchini and squash at the farmer's market, and grilling is always my favorite choice for them. I like to cut them on the bias, and then just pour olive oil, salt, pepper and whatever seasoning sounds good. Tonight it was a Mexican seasoning that I picked up a couple of days ago called Adobo. I highly recommend it, and I think this will be my go-to seasoning for awhile.

My tomatoes are starting to come in, and I have more basil than I know what to do with. I decided to make the traditional salad of tomatoes, basil, olive oil, salt and black pepper, but instead of mozzarella, I used queso fresca, which is a terrific cheese. It's a traditional Mexican cheese that crumbles nicely, and has a creamy and salty flavor. I like it just as much as fresh mozzarella.

I wasn't sure what the main dish would be, so I popped my head in the freezer, and saw that I had some frozen ahi tuna steaks. I had a eureka moment, since I had a few oranges floating around from test baking my pumpkin cake (which uses orange zest). I made a simple marinade for the tuna: orange juice, soy sauce and a little rice wine vinegar to give it a clean, bright flavor. I've used a variation of this marinade for about a year or two, and I love it. I usually add some ground mustard or ginger, but I think I've moved on from that. I like how clean and fresh this was with only the three ingredients. I let it marinate for about a half hour, and then dug out some black poppy seeds to line the edges of the tuna steaks. That adds a really nice crunch to the tuna that I enjoy quite a bit. The dipping sauce is made just like the marinade, and man, it's tasty!

I think this has to be one of my favorite meals, one I'll be making for years to come. And I happen to think it would be a meal that would impress a date. I just gotta find one.