Braai'ed tuna steaks accompany this French classic - a tribute to my lovely wife.
Serves 4 Preparation time - 30 mins Cooking time - 20 mins
17 years ago I met my wife. She's a lovely South African women who has never eaten meat. Fish, yes. When our relationship started I didn't much care for fish and it was fair to say I wasn't very practised at cooking it. Over the years I think that's changed as it almost always features at our braais. I'll admit sometimes at the last minute.
Once in a while fish takes centre stage on the braai. Tuna is one of my favourite cuts. It's so versatile and it's firm flesh makes it easy to cook on the braai. This salad is perfect for a lazy, sunny afternoon and goes well with a bottle of easy drinking sauvignon blanc.
Ingredients
4 tuna steaks
4 eggs
100g baby spinach leaves
100g green beans, trimmed
400g baby new potatoes
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2tbsp red wine vinegar
2tbsp olive oil
2tbsp capers, rinsed
20 black pitted kalamata olives
The Braai things
A braai to cook on
15 charcoal briquettes (the compact kind)
4 firelighters
Method
Light the braai
Start by lighting your fire. Just lay out the firelighters in the middle of your braai and pile the charcoal on top of these in a haphazard way, then light. You probably don’t need 15 briquettes for this task, but they’ll give you lasting heat for pudding.
Prepare the potatoes, eggs, beans and dressing
Wash the potatoes and but then in a large pan of water and bring to the boil. Cook then for around 12 minutes until tender. Take them off the heat, drain and halve.
Put eggs in a small pan of water, bring to the boil, then simmer for 8-10 mins, depending on how you like them cooked. Plunge into a bowl of cold water to cool for a few mins. Peel away the shells, then cut into halves.
Cook the trimmed beans in a pan of boiling water for 5-6 minutes, until tender. Plunge into a bowl of cold water to cool for a few mins, then set aside.
Meanwhile make the dressing by whisking the red wine vinegar, olive oil and capers together. Season with salt and pepper.
Braai the tuna steaks
When your charcoal briquettes have turned white, spread them out evenly and put the grill in place for 5 mins to heat up. You'll want to cook the steaks over a high heat. If you can hold your hand above the grill for 4-5 it's time to start cooking. Grease the grill lightly with a little cooking oil (I just use some oily kitchen towel). Place the tuna in the middle of the grill and cook evenly on for about 3 min on both sides. Don't turn it too often - just left it cook but make sure you don't overcook it. You want it to be slightly pink in the middle.
Bring the salad together and serve
Lay the spinach leaves onto a large plate and add the onion, tomatoes, potato, tuna steaks and beans. Drizzle over the salad dressing then finish by adding the eggs and olives. Serve and enjoy with that large glass of cold, refreshing sauvignon blanc.
Sophisticated in a French way. With a large dose of South African touch. Just like my lovely wife (who doesn't eat meat).
Eat. Love. Braai
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