Look what I did!
Here’s how I did it:
The first thing I did was start the rice, since I knew that takes the longest. 2 cups water to 1 cup rice:
Once the water was boiling, I added about 1/4 tsp salt and just a tiny bit of butter. Add the rice, cover it up, and let it boil for 15-20 minutes.
While the rice cooked, I started heating the spinach (just the easy frozen stuff on the stove top), and getting the zucchini and eggplant ready for roasting.
With the oven pre-heated to 400*, I quartered the zucchini and sliced half of the eggplant. All pieces got dusted with salt and pepper, but in the name of experimentation, I varied my spice approach from cayenne pepper to paprika (on the right) to garlic salt (the ones on the left). Why not, right? Anyway, these went in the oven for about 10 minutes at 400*:
While these roasted, I prepped the salsa.
Papaya-Ginger Salsa -
I slightly cheated as the Papaya-Ginger sauce part came from a jar of grilling sauce I bought at World Market last week when taking advantage of their clearance sales. Here’s the one:
My salsa was comprised of this fresh goodness. Ok, one frozen ingredient, but it’s not exactly corn season
:
1/2 avocado
1/2 med tomato
1 clove garlic
3-5 pieces of cilantro, chopped
~ 1 tbsp chopped onion (I used a shallot)
~ 2 tbsp chopped red pepper
~ 1/4 c. corn (I used frozen, defrosted)
fresh lime juice
~ 2 tbsp of the Papaya-Ginger Grilling Sauce
This all went in my new food processor for a few good pulses.
Finally, the ahi tuna steak. This cooks quickly, so I made sure everything else was ready to go by the time I put the tuna on the skillet. Or at least I tried.
I had the pan hot, and lightly drizzled in EVOO, then I salted and peppered one side of the tuna and squeezed some fresh lime juice over it. I think it cooked for about 4-5 minutes on each side – honestly, a little too much. I really wanted the perfect, slightly rare ahi tuna steak, but I got a little unsure about how much was enough when it came to the pink through the middle, so I didn’t have quite as much pink as I wanted. Still tasty though.
Anyway, I topped the tuna with the salsa, laid it on top of the cilantro-lime rice, and sat it up against the veggies. Turns out I need a better way to do spinach, for one thing. I thought chicken broth would’ve been a nice way to do the spinach, but I didn’t see that exactly meshing with the fresh fish taste, so I stuck with water.
I’m also not yet awesome at roasting these veggies. Any tips? I usually do zucchini and squash-type things either sauteed in a skillet or coated in bread crumbs and lightly fried (southern girl at heart here). So this was a stretch and not my favorite. Any tips on how to do that better? And how to do cooked spinach? Help an exploratory chef out!
Anyway, when everything was ready, I squeezed half a lime into the rice and added a small amount (Tbsp?) of cilantro. Tasted like Chipotle’s but even better 
One thing I’d do differently would be to have the veggies chopped and prepped before I did the rice. Rice takes a little time to cook, but when it’s ready, it’s ready. Mine wasn’t overdone, but it could’ve been pulled out of the pot a couple minutes sooner for ultimate deliciousness.
The finished product was amazing (scroll back up for the finished picture), and paired awesomely with the bottle of wine Dad the Wine Guy recommended.
Hold up for some family props real quick: Pops is one of the wine gurus at the Woodbury Cellars – go say hi and ask for his opinion, lord knows he always has one. His name is Randy, and he learns at the feet of the even more opinionated brilliant and masterful wine buyer, Ray Zemke. Dad paid me to say that. Ok, no he didn’t, but seriously – Ray’s really awesome. Go see them next time you’re over there. Tell them I sent you. Seriously! They host these fun little free seminars on a lot of Saturdays where you get to drink yourself silly taste delicious wines and sometimes I get to get drunk for free pour the wine while he shares his knowledge.
So… we weighed our options – a Pinot Noir could be light enough, or if I wanted white and special, I could pick a fun and sparkly Blanc de Noir too.
Finally, we decided that a drier Reisling would be just the ticket, up against the light sweetness from the ginger/papaya/corn/citrus. I found Polka Dot Medium Dry – about 11.5% alcohol (according to Pops, that’s just dry enough for what we were looking for. A spatlese would be about 8.5% – too sweet) and on sale at my neighborhood Edina Liquors for $7.99 from $10.99. Now we’re talkin’.
So yeah! Doniree’s Thursday Test Kitchen – WIN! Not perfect, but lessons learned and I’m excited to try better versions of everything here.
Doniree Walker is an aspiring yogini, jet-setter, foodie, and story-teller. She's a writer and geek girl by trade, and a lover and a connector by lifestyle, and is currently obsessed with: train travel, single-serving chocolate milk, and brand new notebooks. Oh, and she's also part supergirl. Wanna be friends? 
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
that looks great! good job
Thanks! It was so much fun to do!
That looks amazing, looking forward to other editions of your Test Kitchen.
My two cents: I would have sautéed the spinach. I do this sometimes when I make omelets and it turns out well. Just a bit of butter or oil and maybe a little salt and pepper.
Thanks, Conner! I bet the butter would’ve been just what it needed.
First off- great job on the tuna!! Just keep trying and soon you’ll get the timing down.
Second- roasted veggie advice; zucchini have a high water content and don’t always roast well. They do sear beautifully in a hot pan, just watch the cooking time. Once overcooked, they might as well be baby food. Good veggies for roasting are tuber-types- yams, carrots, parsnips, beets etc. Be sure the oven is HOT. Roasted carrots are divine, and if you like cauliflower, roasting it is amazing.
And the spinach- here’s the bottom line. You. Must. Buy. Fresh. The frozen is fine for making spinach dip, but it just doesn’t taste like fresh sauteed spinach. Get a bag (or for cheap- buy a head and clean it well) and then heat your skillet with olive oil. Add some finely minced garlic and cook it, stirring, until it’s very fragrant- about a minute or two. Add in the spinach leaves and stir to start wilting them. 10 oz. of spinach will cook down to a seemingly small amount; add the leaves in batches to make it all work. Cook until wilted but still tender (this will come with practice) and season with sea salt and pepper. You might kick yourself for not doing it this way sooner. Fresh. Is. Best. Especially when it comes to spinach.
And rice in a pan keeps a little better if, when it’s done, you cover the top with a clean towel and place the lid over that, leaving it to sit for maybe 5 minutes or so. This helps to absorb a little more moisture. Of course, there is that rice cooker I told you about….. (perfect every time!)
You go, girl!
If you really want to do roasted veggies, cook them longer……or make, like zucchini boats stuffed with stuff……you know, whatever, mushrooms, stovetop dressing, even cheeses……
Keep it up! Cooking runs in our family bloodline…..