Sesame Ahi Tuna Salad

Sesame Ahi Tuna Salad is a great weeknight meal when you want to eat a hearty salad & enjoy a restaurant style meal at home. Weight Watchers friendly recipe- 10 SmartPoints!

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again, I love a good salad!  Especially a hearty salad that is dinner worthy.  When I’m making salads, I usually have a mindset for whether it will be lunch worthy or dinner worthy.  When I’m making a lunch salad, I want ingredients that I can make on Sunday, throw into containers that I can quickly grab and go for work.  I’m sure you feel that way too!  So, for a dinner salad, I want something that is hearty, meaty, and elegant.  My Sesame Ahi Tuna Steak is just that…  Fresh, hearty, and elegant for a quick weeknight meal that is great for a date night in.  This is a Weight Watcher friendly recipe and the salad plus homemade ginger dressing is 10 SmartPoints.

Sesame crusted ahi tuna steak on a bed of fresh greens, shaved carrots, and edamame with carrot ginger salad dressing… sounds good huh?!  Well, it IS good!  I got the inspiration to make this salad because a while back I was craving a “meaty” salad but wanted to try something other than steak.  While brainstorming for a meat to cook, I had a fond memory of a time I went to a fancy restaurant and had ahi tuna for the first time.  This was a long time ago before I had started my cooking/Weight Watcher journey and didn’t know much about food.

Before eating ahi tuna, I thought tuna was only served as sushi or as tuna salad sandwich.  So, I decided to give ahi tuna a try that day and I was blown away.  YUM!  After reminiscing for a good minutes, it was decided that it was time for me to give ahi tuna another try and test my cooking skills.

My local grocery store has ahi tuna steaks fresh or frozen (rarely do they have fresh).  I usually say fresh is best, but when you don’t live by the ocean it can be hard to get fresh tuna steaks.  Buying frozen fish works just as good and it can save you a few cents.  Ahi tuna is surprisingly easy to make at home and cooks in no time!  I promise ya’ll, when I first made ahi tuna and was nervous about testing my skills, I really surprised myself (and my then boyfriend now husband).  Depending on the size of the steaks, you could actually split the steak in two to stretch the meal.

Once the tuna is cleaned and patted dry, season each side with salt and pepper then coat in sesame seeds.  You can use just white sesame seeds or mix white with black.  Add oil to a cast iron skillet (or any skillet) and heat over medium-high heat.  The tuna will cook on each side for about 2-4 minutes.  You just want to cook the outside of the steak and leave the inside still pink.  Trust me, you will love it!

The salad dressing really takes this salad up a notch on the elegance scale.  When I was trying to think of the perfect salad dressing for this salad, I quickly remembered how much I love the salad dressing served at Japanese steak houses.  You remember that dressing right?  Surprisingly, there is a way to make this dressing guilt free!  To a food processor or blender, add carrots, ginger, shallot, garlic, vinegar, oil, and water.  Blend until well combined!  I could eat that dressing over anything!

Sesame Ahi Tuna Salad is a great quick weeknight meal when you want to eat a hearty salad and enjoy a restaurant style meal at home.  This salad is packed with fresh ingredients and can be made in under 30 minutes!  Perfect for left overs the next day!!

I hope you enjoy these bites of flavor!

For Sesame Ahi Tuna Salad, here are my “go-to” kitchen essentials:

 

Serves 2

490

Sesame Ahi Tuna Salad

10 SMARTPOINTS per serving

20 minPrep Time

10 minCook Time

30 minTotal Time

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Ingredients

• 2 Ahi Tuna Steaks
• 1 Tablespoon White Sesame Seeds
• 1 Tablespoon Vegetable Oil
• Salt & Pepper, to taste
Salad Mix Ingredients:
• 1 Bunch Arugula
• 1 Bunch Red Leaf Lettuce
• 1 Bunch Green Leaf Lettuce
• 1 Shaved Carrot
• ½ Cup Edamame
Dressing Ingredients:
• 2 Carrots
• ¼ Shallot
• 2 Tablespoons Rice Vinegar
• 1 Teaspoon Sesame oil
• 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
• ½ Teaspoon Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Ginger
• 1 Clove Garlic
• 1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
• ¼ Cup Water

Instructions

Dressing Directions:
1. Peel and chop carrots into 3 pieces and put in food processor (or blender).
2. Chop shallot into 2 pieces and put into food processor (or blender).
3. Add vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar, ginger, garlic, and coconut oil in food processor.
4. Blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
5. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Ahi Tuna Directions:
6. Rinse ahi tuna and pat dry.
7. Season ahi tuna with salt & pepper on each side.
8. Coat each side of ahi tuna steaks with sesame seeds, pressing them into each side.
9. In a skillet, heat oil over medium high heat.
10. Cook tuna on each side for about 2-4 minutes.
11. Once cooled, slice tuna steaks.
To assemble salad:
12. Add arugula, red leaf lettuce, green leaf lettuce, shaved carrot, and edamame into a bowl. Mix well.
13. Top salad with ahi tuna steaks and garnish with dressing.

Notes

8 SmartPoints for ahi tuna salad mix, 2 SmartPoints for a serving of Carrot Ginger dressing.

NUTRITION: Makes 2- (10 SmartPoints Per Serving) CALORIES: 462 FAT: 14.2 SATURATED FAT: 2.4 CARBS: 5.3 FIBER: 1.9 SUGARS: 1.5 PROTEIN: 73.3

7.8.1.2

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https://bitesofflavor.com/sesame-ahi-tuna-salad/

Nutrition

Calories

490 cal

Fat

39 g

Carbs

28 g

Protein

10 g

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