Wow, guys. GUESS what today is?!
It’s the first non-vegan recipe on Flora Foodie.
I started this little bloggy of mine when I was still a newbie vegan and trying to find recipes that I really loved. Or to transition old favorites. I feel like I completely mastered the art of amazing vegan recipes. It’s a phenomenal diet with so many incredible benefits, and anybody who thinks veganism is unhealthy or unsatisfying has a thing or two to learn. (Please see recipe archives if you’d like to start said education…. 😉 )
It just wasn’t for me long-term. I ate WAY too much processed food. That’s on me.
While I had so many wonderful vegan recipes, it was a struggle to come up with weeknight recipes that didn’t take too much thought, prep, or include processed foods. I absolutely love all types of cooking, I’ll happily spend an hour and a half making a great meal or baking bread from scratch.
But weeknights, I want something easy, fast, healthy, and satisfying. That was pretty hard for me to do (given my preferences) on a whole-foods vegan diet. So I chose to prioritize eating whole (meaning not processed) foods over vegan foods.
Meals like THIS 2 minute sea steak are really how I want to eat, to cook, to live my life. It’s incredibly satisfying, balanced, easy to prep, fast, fresh, hearty, and healthy.
When I first ran a survey about whether to include non-vegan meals on the blog, I had no idea what I’d make or post. I had no idea how soon I would post a non-vegan recipe. Friends and family asked me if I knew what the first non-vegan recipe would be, and I could only shrug.
Until I made this meal for the first time.
Winner. Hands-down, no question.
This is the type of food that made me leave veganism, so this is exactly what I want to share first. Bonus points for the fact that I’ve discovered sashimi and seared tuna are probably my favorite non-vegan foods ever. Poached eggs put up a solid fight, but they’re second place.
The tuna itself only takes a couple minutes to prep and two minutes to cook. (Incredible.) The most difficult component is the rice, and my cheater version of sushi rice still only requires about 3-5 hands-on minutes. You could also pick up frozen or pre-cooked steamed rice to speed things up. Weeknight meal GLORY.
The result is an easy, satisfying, well-balanced meal made from whole foods.
Enough rambling! Here it is, ladies and gentleman, a non-vegan recipe on this used-to-be-vegan blog!
- 2 ahi tuna steaks (or 1 really large one)
- 1/3 C ponzu sauce
- 1 T sesame oil
- 1 T avocado oil
- 2 T seasoned rice vinegar
- 2 T honey
- 3 scallions, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, smashed (but kept whole)
- 1 C dry brown rice
- 1 1/2 C water
- 2 T seasoned rice vinegar
- 2 t sugar
- Combine all ingredients in a plastic bag and allow to marinate. I marinated mine for a full 24 hours, and the flavor was absolutely incredible. After 12 hours, I squished everything around in the bags a bit and rotated the fish.
- When it’s done marinating, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tiny drizzle of avocado oil, and add each of the steaks. Cook for 60 seconds per side, and remove from heat immediately.
- (If your smoke detector is as sensitive as mine, this WILL set it off. I highly recommend starting to cook the steaks and then staring at your watch to time the fish while fanning your smoke alarm 😉 )
- Allow to cool just for a minute, and then slice against the grain as thinly as you can. Serve with more ponzu sauce if needed. But if you marinate it for as long as I did, nothing else is needed.
- Combine rice and water in a rice cooker or saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook until the rice has absorbed all the water, about 35 minutes. When you start cooking the rice, combine the vinegar and sugar in a small dish. Stir it occasionally and the sugar will dissolve. When it’s done cooking, turn off the heat and allow it to sit covered and steam for about 10 more minutes. Then pour the vinegar mixture on top and mix.
A couple notes on finding the right tuna for this dish since you’re leaving most of it raw. You’ll want sushi grade fish, so the best place to get it is from your fishmonger so you can double check the freshness. If you’re lucky, you may be able to find fish that has never been frozen (it will be expensive, but totally worth it. And still less expensive than even from-frozen restaurant sea steak!!!) BUT I also learned that fish that has been flash frozen on the boat when it’s caught still qualifies as sushi grade. So if you see some “previously frozen” fish, still ask your fishmonger about it. The previously frozen stuff is way more affordable, goes on awesome sales, and is still wonderfully delicious. The texture is slightly different. Apparently Trader Joe’s also sometimes has sushi grade tuna that’s been previously frozen, and I believe (haven’t seen it yet though) that they clearly label it as sushi grade.
Leave a Reply