Tuna Burgers and Seaweed Salad

Though I am a die-hard Trader Joe's loyalist, I have recently been enjoying the wider selection of food at Fresh & Easy. They have an entire aisle full of ethnic foods and a good selection of fresh fruit, vegetables, and meats. It's not too expensive either, but not as cheap as TJ's. 

Fresh ahi caught my eye on my last trip and I had to make the most of it. My favorite way to enjoy ahi, if not rare and seared, is grilled and as a sandwich. This is quintessential California food for me, so if you live in one of those landlocked  or eastern states, gives this a try for a taste of CA.

Grilled Ahi Sandwiches with Wasabi Mayo

for 4

2 fresh ahi steaks

Wasabi Mayo

• 3 tbsp light mayo
• 3 tbsp nonfat plain greek yogurt
• 2 tsp prepared wasabi

Fixins

• Whole wheat hamburger buns
• Heirloom tomato, sliced
• Avocado, sliced
• Baby spinach
• Pickled ginger
• S & P

Mix all wasabi mayo ingredients together. 

A little bit goes a very very long way. Set in fridge while you grill.

Prep ahi steaks by slicing them in half. You can always do the full size, but that's a lot of meat, and it ain't cheap.

Perfect thickness!

Grill fish or broil - whatever works for you!

Then layer up your buns with fixins of your choice.

I personally love the ginger sweetness in the sandwich, but some people could do without. I slather both buns with wasabi mayo, then layer fish, tomato, S & P, spinach, avocado, ginger. YUM!

The perfect side for this fresh and healthy sandwich is cucumber onion salad. I added nori!

Seaweed Cucumber Salad


1 large cucumber
1 small red onion
2 sheets nori/seaweed
1/3 c. seasoned rice wine vinegar
2 tsp sesame seeds

First break up the nori sheets and soak in vinegar.

Prep cucumber by peeling, scooping out seeds, and slicing into half moons.

Add to bowl with red onion.

Top with sesame seeds and toss.

Thanks for visiting California!

Grilled Buffalo Pizza

Today's recipe comes from Janetha over at Meals and Moves. This is one of the first blogs I started reading and my hands down favorite blog on the internet. When she posted this recipe a few months ago, I kicked myself and thought "why didn't I think of that?!"

Pizza. Buffalo sauce. Bleu cheese. Greek yogurt. Chicken.

Ummmm, how could you go wrong?

I modified Janetha's recipe a bit by using a red onion instead of white, and ditched the mozz cheese and opted for more yogurt sauce. Try her version or mine, your choice!

Also, I've been itching to grill pizza for months. It's a delicate process, but as long as you're organized with a pizza removal strategy, you should be good to go. Hopefully my instructions help.

Grilled Buffalo Chicken Pizza
adapted from Meals and Moves
serves 4


1 fresh whole wheat pizza dough
1/2 c. nonfat plain greek yogurt
1/2 c. buffalo sauce, like Franks, divided
4 oz. bleu cheese crumbles, divided
8 oz. cooked chicken breast
1 red onion
2 tbsp EVOO

First things first. Make sauce. Mix together yogurt, 1/4 c. of buffalo sauce, and 2 oz. bleu cheese crumbles. Set aside. Put dough out on the counter so it can relax.

Slice red onion and saute in EVOO until caramelized (about 15 minutes)

Prep your business. I got frantic and didn't catch a pic, but here's what you need to have handy by the grill: yogurt sauce, caramelized red onions, chicken (sliced into bite size pieces and tossed in remaining buffalo sauce), remaining bleu cheese crumbles.

Roll dough out. I used a flat baking sheet. This will be my grill removal strategy. Think of it like a ginormous spatula.

Heat grill to medium low heat. Spray it lightly with cooking oil. Carefully place pizza dough on grill. This is difficult. You can slide it off the tray, but you have to be careful not to fold the dough on top of itself. Don't be nervous. You could only screw up the entire meal, NBD. Turn heat back up to medium.

After about 3 minutes and you see grill marks on the bottom, you're ready to flip!

Reduce heat to lowest possible and layer up the pizza! Sauce, onion, chicken, bleu cheese.

Turn the heat back up to medium low, and close the lid. This will help warm the toppings and melt the bleu cheese.

Reduce to low low if your crust is done but you want more melty cheese. Once toppings start bubbling, you're donezo.

Carefully slide back onto baking sheet without burning your arm hairs off and transfer to a cutting board for slicing. 

Go make this now. Trust.

Millions of Peaches

You know what's awesome right now?

Peaches.

So tasty right now. Trader Joe's is wise to this phenomenon and sells the suckers in FLATS. Love it. Can't get enough. I'm drooling right now thinking about it.

So when I was craving something creamy and peachy and fat-kid-status-y, I was saved by my trusty popsicle molds. I threw together a non-fat, high protein, low sugar, delicious treat.

Have one!

Peaches and Cream Greek Yogurt Popsicles
makes four


1 1/2 peaches (um... eat the other half, duh)
1 c. nonfat vanilla greek yogurt
dash cinnamon
2 tbsp milk

Slice one peach into bite size pieces.

In a bowl, combine milk, yogurt, cinnamon,  and sliced peaches.

Puree the half peach until smooth. Stir into mixture.

Spoon into popsicle molds and tap on the counter to move bubbles out.

Freeze for 4+ hours.

OMG.

Peaches for me!