White Bean Soup with Salt Pork, Kale, and Apples

This is not really a "recipe" as I am not sure how much of most of these things I thew into the pot... more a set of instructions for making a hearty pot of soup/stew while suffering from some stupid case of the winter blehs.

Either hot soak your bag of dried beans (bring to a boil, turn off, go away for a hr leaving it covered) or soak overnight if you are more organized then I am.

Take the rind off of a large chunk of salt pork and put it, whole, into a smallish pot covered in water and bring it to a simmer. Leave it there for the next part.

Put a few tbl of butter (unsalted... we are using salt pork and parmesean here, we do not need to add any more salt to this pot omg) into a large pot over medium low heat.  Chop up 1 yellow onion and toss it in.  Add herbs at this point - I used a lot of thyme, rosemary, sage, and oregano personally.  Also a few whole peppercorns and a shake of red pepper flakes.  It could of used bay but I was out.  Open fridge to look for carrots and find a potato as well.  Chop up potato and put it in bc why not, will give body to soup and potato peel has vitamins in it right?  Throw in a few handfuls of baby carrots.  Smash and peel an entire head of garlic (you heard me, garlic is good for sick ppl) and into the pot.  Cut one medium sweet/tart apple (not a delicious and not a granny smith.. something like an empire or a macintosh) and throw it in also.  Now take your salt pork out of the water and (carefully it is hot) cut it into chunks and throw it in the pot as well.  Get out some good parmesean cheese - the block not the grated stuff if at all possible, and throw in about 2 square inches worth, chopped up, rind included is fine.

Add water to near the top of your pot and bring it to a simmer.  Add your greens - I used 2 bags of "baby kale blend" which was kale, chard, and spinach.  Any hearty green will do altho spinach on it's own would be boring, and careful with pepper if using arugula.  When greens start to wilt, drain your beans, rinse them, and add to the pot.  Put on the cover and gtfo, just checking to stir/add water if needed every 30 mins or so. 

This should cook 2-2.5 hrs, until beans are tender.  When it is nearly done, cut another apple (and some more carrots if you want) up into smaller bits and add them.  You can also puree the soup, or mash it up a bit w a potato masher (this is my preference) to make it less chunky.  If you want to be fancy, go back to the beginning and don't cut up the salt pork.. then cut it up now and fry it and add a few slices to each bowl.  (If you are sick this is too much fkn work really, only do this if you are making this soup FOR a sick person.) You could also have reserved some greens to throw in at the end so they are not all browns. 

Enjoy, and feel better soon. 

Turkey Loaf with Cheesy Cauliflower Puree

For me, this took advantage of some pre chopped veggies and the convenience of a pre flavored cheese product (as well as using a cake pan to bake in a thin layer instead of being loaf shaped...) in order to be a 30 min, 1 pot/1 pan, mealprep for the week.  At just under 320 cals and 32g of protein a serving this is 4 servings of delicious, nutritious, lunch.

1lb ground turkey - I used 99% fat free

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

4 oz crimini mushrooms, chopped

3 cloves garlic, same

5 cups raw spinach

1 tbl butter

splash of water

1 egg - please don't chop this

salt, pepper, thyme, sage to taste

1.5lbs cauliflower florets, chopped/cleaned

1 container reduced fat garlic herb allouette... or 8 oz low fat cream cheese and some salt/herbs/garlic

Turn oven on to 350.  Sautee onion, mushrooms, and garlic until onion is translucent.  Add herbs/seasoning, splash in a bit of water, and throw in spinach and stir until it wilts and water is mostly gone.  Mix veggies into turkey, using egg to hold it together, it will be a bit slimy but oh well.  Spread out into a cake pan so that you can have super mega fast cooking and set timer to 20 mins.

Put cauliflower into same pot, add water to cover and a dash of salt, and go sit on the couch for 15 mins or so.  By now the cauliflower is falling apart so just drain it, smash it a bit, and add cheese and stir it in. The turkey loaf should be cooked through at this point, so just portion things out and store and you're set.   

Banana Protein Bread

Not quite as delicious as straight up banana bread... not quite as nutritious as a totally boring version. This compromise is a pretty perfect breakfast, tho.

4 overripe bananas you should maybe not of bought so many of last week
1 cup greek yogurt (I used 2%)
2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 container (about 2 cups) almond butter (peanut butter would work too but be less neutral tasting)
3 scoops vanilla protein powder (or chocolate) (or all plain but add some vanilla extract)
2 scoops unflavored protein powder (if you are less bothered by fake sugar taste you can use 5 of flavored stuff)
1 tbl or so cinnamon
1.5 cups oats
pinch each salt and baking soda

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix first 5 ingredients until they are well combined.  Fold in the rest, do not overmix.  Put into a baking pan (I used a silicon 8x8 cake pan) and bake approx 30 mins (more if using a deeper pan, less if using muffin tin).  For 12 servings comes out at 300ish cals, 30g carb, 14g fat, 18g protein, more if you add things like chocolate chips or walnuts or other things that might taste good in there.

New Years Day Double Chocolate Protein Muffins

When the cold light of new years morning leaves you hating the scale and determined to get back on track but you can't shake the memory of your awesome cookies from last night..... Here is the diet friendly version for breakfasts/snacks all week.  You're welcome.

2 ripe/overripe bananas

1 cup natural peanutbutter (can do almond butter or sun butter etc if you are allergic or dislike the taste of pb)

2 eggs

pinch each baking soda and salt

1 cup oats

3 scoops chocolate protein powder

splash vanilla

1/3rd to 1/2 bag semi/dark chocolate chips

Set oven to 350.  Smash bananas, mix in pb and eggs.  Add soda, salt, and vanilla at this point.  Stir in oats and protein powder, then chocolate chips.  Portion into muffin tin and bake for 12-15 mins.  I ended up with 16 muffins at abt 190 cals, 16g carb, 10g fat, 8.5g protein each.  No white sugar, no white four, plenty of chocolate taste, and a good way to use up some protein powder you thought maybe you could stand to just drink (you thought very wrong). 

Peanutbutter Chocolate Protein Comfort Compromise Cookies

So ya..... crazy time of year.  Craving all things I should not eat bc, ofc, stress = junk food cravings. But. I know better, poor nutrition = poor dealing with stress.

Compromise cookies, go. This recipe makes 36 cookie things that come in at abt 175 cals each with 7-8 g protein, 13 net g carbs (11 of which are sugar), and 10g of fat.

15 servings natural (no ingredients besides peanuts and maybe salt) pb (36 tablespoons, or 1 16oz container)
1 bag dark chocolate chips (mine was 19 servings in the bag at 80 cals each, 60% coco)
4 cups instant nonfat milk powder (can use unflavored whey protein for higher protein content, even)
1 cup honey (maple syrup or molasses would work as well)
3 large eggs
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp baking powder
1-2 tsp salt
cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, vanilla to taste

Mix everything - pb honey eggs and milk first, then dried milk powder and flavorings, then chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 for 10-12 mins - I baked it in mini muffin tins to keep cookies from sprawling too much.

Meal-Prep Tikka Masala

This is NOT authentic Indian food.  It is, however, very tasty and super healthy (comes in under 400 cals with 40g of protein per serving for 6 servings.... make smaller portions and serve with rice if you want more carbs/less protein then I do).  It is loosely based on a chicken tikka masala recipe.

Spices:
Cumin (seeds if possible)
Tumeric
Cardamon
Garam Masala/curry powder (the better ones are usually labeled garam masala) (Do not use brittish style sweet curry powder unless you like that cloying shit but omg ewwwww you did not get this recipe from me if you do.)
Corriander if you cannot find fresh cilantro
Salt, pepper, maybe some cayane

Veggies:
1-2 inches chopped Ginger
3-7 cloves chopped Garlic
Serrano Peppers (or other 'green' tasting hot peppers of your liking) - this is to taste
1 large bunch Cilantro (fresh omg not dried) (If you cannot find fresh just use corriander, and add some fresh parsley if possible.)
1 Yellow Onion
1 can/2 cups Chick Peas
1 can Peas (leseur is my favorite)
Large bag (5 servings) Frozen Califlower
1lb fresh spinach
28oz Tomato Puree - or chopped/diced/etc tomatoes, whatever you have in the house rly.... except not ketchup or tomato sauce that has herbs/spices in it already

Other:
2lbs Boneless/boned skiness/skinned chicken breast (Thighs would possibly taste better, but, trying to be healthy this week so....)
4 tbl butter - or use coconut oil if you have, or ghee
Lemon

Note:
You could just use a LOT more chick peas and easily make this a vegetarian dish....vegan even if you use coconut oil instead of butter.

Start with butter/other fat in the pan.  Add your cumin and tumeric and stir it a bit to get them fragrant (I used abt 1 tbl of both).  Toss in your onion and your chopped peppers (I used 2 serranos, with seeds, bc I like spicy.... adjust for your heat tollerance), and salt if you use salt.  Stir a bit to let onions start to cook down.  Now add your cardamon seeds (I used seeds from 2 pods), your corriander if no cilantro (maybe 1tbl), your cilantro, ginger, and garlic.  Stir some more.  Next dump in your tomato product and let cook a few mins.

Next, peas, chick peas, and califlower.  Then, chicken.  At this point, put a lid on it and leave it alone for about 30ish mins (put rice in rice cooker now if you are serving with such, it will be a good timer for chicken).  Just stir from time to time so it does not stick to bottom of pot.

When chicken is done, dump spinach in and stir just enough to wilt it.  Then add about 2-3 tbl of your garam masala, and the juice of one lemon for brightness.  Taste, and adjust with cayane pepper, salt, more garam masala etc as needed.  If you have made it slightly too hot,  serve with rice and raita to balance it out a bit.

Moroccan-ish Chicken and Garbanzos

These amounts make 2 servings (3 if you are not greedaloxes or maybe have a salad with it), it would easily scale up though.

8-10oz chicken breast (boneless, skinless)
1 can (just shy of 2 cups) cooked garbanzos (chick peas for ppl other then my husband who insists on calling them that)
1 can (12 oz) diced stewed tomatoes
2 servings cooked rice (or quinona, or couscous to be authentic)
1 tbl olive oil
cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic powder, ground cumin, salt if you are not avoiding sodium

Season the chicken breast very liberally with the cinnamon, nutmeg, garlic, and cumin.  You would not be overdoing it to use 2tsp of each.  Add salt if  you like it, and cut up chicken into bitesized bits and rub the seasoning in.  If time permits, put it in a ziplock w the tomatoes and olive oil and leave in the fridge awhile before you cook it (overnight is fine). Like if you were planning it for dinner yesterday and then decided to eat pizza instead and are now having it for lunch...

When ready to cook, throw throw everything except the rice into a pan (make sure you drain the chick peas) and cook over medium heat, stirring as needed so it doesn't burn.  Serve over rice (or other starch of your choice.. or califlower rice if you really want).

Pork Loin Chops with Cherry Whiskey Glaze

It helps to be really really hungry, but, these should be good even if you did not walk an absurd distance today.

Season 2 pork loin chops per person liberally (maybe a bit too liberally, we won't season the other side) with salt, pepper, garlic powder and sage.

Heat up a pan with olive oil, add some rosemary and wait until it gets a bit fragrant.

Add chops and set a timer for 3 mins (2 if they are thin) and WALK AWAY. Do not poke at them.

Turn chops when timer dings and reset it for same time. 

Open fridge looking for something else to add, and find good cherry jam (the stuff that is just cherries and sugar and maybe pectin).  Maybe other jam might work but... cherry should be in your fridge anyway what are you some sort of bad jam heathen?

Put 1 spoonful of jam onto each chop.

Snag bottle of whiskey (atm I am loving Makers Mark) and pour 1 shot or so into pan, also pour 1 shot or so into rocks glass with ice for the cook, ofc.

When timer dings, turn off heat, pop a lid on pan, and reset timer for the same time again.

Walk away. Enjoy your whiskey. Do not poke.

When timer dings your  chops are done.  Hopefully you cooked some egg noodles with some frozen veggie thrown in at the same time so you can just add butter to that and have a whole meal.  If not, maybe just eat a salad.

Almond Flour Waffles

Perfect for soaking up egg yolks or hanging out under some fried chicken with pork rind breading.

1 cup almond flour 

3 eggs -seperated if you want fluffier waffles, not if you are just hungry and in a rush.

1tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup water

2 tbl oil or melted butter or bacon fat

If you want really fluffy waffles, beat your egg whites to still peaks. If not, they still taste good. Mix your wet ingredients and whisk in your dry. Carefully fold in egg whites at the end. Super sinple.

Makes 4 servings of 2 waffles each (they freeze well if leftover also). About 350 caloties/serving with 5 net carbs (8, 3 fiber).

Savory Keto Pumpkin Muffins

Yes, I know it is not "pumpkin season" but I opened a can of pumpkin the other day and now I need to use it up. As per my usual contrary nature, these are NOT sweet, and there is NO coconut.

2 tbl chia seeds
5 eggs, seperated
1 cup pumpkin puree
5 oz cream cheese
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Pumpkin pie spice or your own approximation to taste
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
1/2 cup almond (not goddamn coconut) flour

Set oven to 350. Grease or line standard muffin tin.

Whisk egg whites to stiff peaks and set aside.

Put everything else except nuts and almond flour into the food processer and pulse until smooth. (Or get cream cheese to roomtemp and beat it by hand if you are a masochist.)

Fold wet ingredients, flour, and nuts into egg whites carefully. Spoon mixture into muffin tin.

Bake for about 30 mins, till set. Makes 12 muffins. 135 cals each, 5g protien, 4g carbs (1.7 net), 10g fat.

Keto Pumpkin Pancakes

Too many punpkin pancake recipes are sweet, I didn't want sweet, I wanted savory pumpkin. Also I do not want to make extra to feed an army/freeze...I want a decadant single serving for a nice Sunday breakfast for one hungry person who is trying to low carb.

1/4 cup pumpkin puree

1 oz cream cheese

2 tbl almond flour (or coconut, idk why ppl are over the moon about coconut flour, I am not)

1 egg

Pumpkin pie spice OR your own nutmeg/cinnamon/ginger and clove if you like it (I don't) blend to taste.

Pinch each of salt and baking soda.

Blend everything in a blender (because ain't nobody got time for getting cream cheese room temp and trying to whisk it in the morning). Heat up a pan with a bit of butter. (Or coconut oil if you are a coconut heathen. If you want, use coconut flour AND oil and add some vanilla and nocal sweetner and make this into those sweet things I didn't want, it's your breakfast.) Pour yourself a few pancakes and flip when bubbly.

Serve with 2 eggs and a few strips of bacon, because it's Sunday damnit, you deserve a nice breakfast. Add sugar free syrup if you like, or just dress pancakes with butter and runny egg yolks.

(Including sugested sides, this contains 7 net carbs (10-3 fiber) is about 565 calories and has 20% protein, 7%carb, 73%fat.)

Lentil Chorizo Soup

I was looking for a nice hearty snowy day kind of a soup and all of the cans in my cupboard fell short.  So, since I had time on my hands today anyway...

1 bag dried lentils (16 oz)
1 yellow onion
2-3 cups carrots, chopped
1-2 cups celery, chopped
Garlic to taste (I like garlic, I put in 5 cloves of it, adjust as needed)
6oz chorizo (soy alternative would work as well)
1 potato
 10 cups water or stock
salt, pepper, bay leaves, cumin seeds, corriander to taste
few tbl olive oil/butter to saute veggies in

Toast cumin seeds a bit in the dry pan before you add oil/butter for your veggies. Saute onion, carrots and celery with a bit of salt and pepper until they are cooked down a bit and carrots are just starting to cook through.  Add garlic, the potato (chopped) and the chorizo (chopped) at this point and continue to cook another few mins to render the fat out of the chorizo.

Next add your water, bay, and corriander seeds.  Pour in lentils and cook for 30-45 mins until desired tenderness,  slightly longer if  you want a thicker soup. 

Serve with crusty bread and put the leftovers in the fridge, they'll be better tomorrow.

Creamy "Roasted" Garlic Mashed Potatoes

This feeds 2-4 people depending upon how much you like mashed potatoes, and scales up easily.  Saves the trouble of roasting the garlic by cooking it right along with the potatoes.

2 baking potatoes
5 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed but not chopped
1 beef bullion cube
salt, pepper
1/4th cup freshly grated parmesean cheese
Heavy cream
2-3 tbl butter

Cut your potatoes into fourths or sixths or so to speed cooking.  Peel if you like, scrub well if you don't.  Put into a pot with the smashed garlic cloves, the bullion cube, salt, pepper, and water to cover.  Cook until fork tender.  Remove from heat and drain, keeping the garlic with the potatoes. 

Add the butter and cheese and smash the potatoes with a masher or run them through a food mill as preferred.  Stir as you pour in heavy cream until you get the desired texture.  You can use milk if you like, but sometimes a smaller portion of the full fat version is just more satisfying.

"Restaurant" Steak at Home

The problem with steaks at home is that they are never as good as they are at a steakhouse.  Part of that is the quality of the meat, which you can only remedy by making friends with your butcher, but if  you are stuck with standard grocery store steaks you can still do a pretty respectable job of it.

Start with the steaks.  Choose nice thick ones if you like your steak anything other them medium well/well.  You want to be able to get a good sear without cooking it all the way through.  Bone-in steaks are often more flavorful then boneless, and some fat is actually a good thing.

Season your steak simply, salt, pepper, maybe a little garlic powder.  Don't go nuts with rubs and marinades.  Letting the steak sit in the fridge for a day pre-seasoned is ideal, but even seasoning it 20 mins or so before you cook it is good.

Don't put a cold steak into a pan.  Let your steaks come to room temperature before cooking them.

You don't want your pan to be cold, either!  Let your pan (preferably a cast iron skillet) get smoking hot before you put your steak in.  Don't use a ton of fat, just use a tiny bit of olive oil or cooking spray.

Cook your steak 3 to 3.5 mins per side for rare (scale up 1 min for medium rare, etc) and do NOT poke it.  Let it just cook.  Flip it when the timer says so.  Just leave it be.

The most important step: let it rest before serving.  Don't cut into the steak for at least 5 mins so that the juices have time to settle and your steak doesn't just bleed out when you cut it.  You can dress up the steak with some compound butter or a bearnaise sauce if you like that kind of thing. 

Pantry Soup

Cold fall weather always makes me want soup for dinner, and I did not have any cans that looked appealing in the cupboard.. but, I did find the makings for a great bowl of soup while I was in there.  If you keep some basic things like canned beans, chicken stock in a box (or bullion), and fresh veggies on hand you always have soup available. 

This version included:
boxed chicken stock
1 chicken sausage
1/2 a cup black beans
1/4th a cup canned fire roasted tomatoes
1 handful spinach, chopped
4-5 baby carrots, chopped
2 cloves garlic
salt, pepper, cilantro, red pepper flakes

Just cook it all 5-10 mins so everything is cooked through and the flavors meld, done! Leftover cooked rice or other grains, egg noodles, and pretty much any other veggie you have in the house would work here.  Chick peas or pinto beans would be just as good as black beans. As long as you have stock and spices, you are never far from a good bowl of soup.

Beans and Greens

This one is a guest recipe from my dad ^^

Full Meal Beans & Greens

2 bags baby spinach (or any spinach, I like the baby leaves)
1 lb. hot italian sausage, loose or broken up
hot pepper flakes1/2-1 cup chicken broth
lots of your best extra v. olive oil, the stuff you save for salads
kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1 big can Cannilini beans
sweet onion, sliced thin
garlic if you like it

1/4 cup or more olive oil in high-sided saute pan, get hot, add sausage, hot pepper flakes and onion and brown it up on medium heat. When browned nicely, add spinach a bag at a time, add garlic, wilt spinach nicely by turning in hot oil. Add beans and 1/2 cup of broth. If it does not look saucy enough for you, add rest of broth. Bring up to nice simmer, add some more fresh olive oil, eat with crusty bread to soak up the great oily broth.

Sesame Squash Salad

Since I seem to be in a 'healthy cooking' frame of mind, I decided to remake spicy cold sesame/peanut noodle salad.  This makes 1 lunch sized serving or an app for 2-3 people and is best if you let it sit in the fridge at least overnight.

2 cups baked spaghetti squash, stringed
1 tbl sesame seeds
2 tbl natural peanut butter (I like crunchy but you can go with plain if you don't like discernible chunks of peanut)
1 tsp sesame oil
2+ tbl red pepper flakes depending on your heat tollerance
1 tbl ground ginger
3tbl to 1/4th cup stock (I used chicken, veggie or beef would work also.)
several green onions, chopped. a shallot works in a pinch as well
splash of rice wine vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Microwave your peanut butter 30 sec or so so it will mix well, and mix in your sesame seeds, oil, spices, stock, and vinegar.  Taste for heat and adjust accordingly.  Toss in your squash and green onions and mix well.  Let sit in the fridge and serve cold.  This makes a great lunch with a side of quick pickled cucumbers (let them sit overnight with rice wine vinegar, salt, and pepper).

Curried Pumpkin Soup

Makes one serving for a hungry person or 2 app sized servings, scales up easily. 

1-2 tsp cumin seeds
2-3 tsp curry powder (hot or mild as you like it)
1 tsp cayenne  pepper
2-3 tsp ground ginger
salt, pepper to taste
1/2 a small yellow onion, chopped
1/2 to 1 tbl butter
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 cups veggie stock (can use chicken stock if you are an omnivore. Don't use water without really amping up the spices or soup will be bland.)
6oz (a single serving container) of 0% greek yogurt (could use full fat yogurt, or a smaller amount of sour cream or creme fresh, or just a dash of actual cream if you want.  But the yogurt has a bonus effect of adding a bunch of protein along with the creaminess.)

Put curry powder, cumin seeds, and both peppers in a small soup pan over medium heat to toast a bit while you chop up your onion.  Add butter when spices are toasted (you will be able to smell when they're ready).  Throw your onion and salt in when the butter melts and cook until onion is caramelized.  Add chicken stock, ginger, and pumpkin and stir to incorporate.  Bring to a low boil and cook for about 5 mins or so to let it thicken up a bit and let the flavors meld.  Taste for seasoning (you want the soup a bit spicier then you actually want it at this point because the yogurt will cool it down considerably) and pour into whatever bowl you are serving it in over the yogurt.  Stir to incorporate and enjoy.  Lunch for under 300 calories (assuming you did not overdo it with the butter) in under 10 mins. 

Sweet Chili Paper Fish

Have you ever noticed that at least 90% of food that you can grab in a hurry and shove in your mouth one handed on the go is carb based? So if you've been running around like a maniac all day (such as my 'must clean all the things' spree today) you have probably only gotten one food group (well, 2 if you count caffeine in your pyramid).  Here is an easy recipe to remedy that with, emphasis on easy because who has energy left to cook?  (This is written to feed 1 person but scales up very easily for more.  Just make separate paper envelopes for each piece of fish for best results.

Turn your oven on to 450, and put a nice bottle of white wine in the fridge.  Mix 1-2 tbl hot oil (or some neutral oil and smashed up red pepper flakes), 1-2 tbl honey, the juice of 2 limes, and salt/pepper in a small bowl.  Lay out a piece of parchment paper large enough to make an envelope on a baking sheet and put a piece of  fish (in this case I used salmon, but this would be equally good on tuna and would probably even work on a white fish like tilapia. Use whatever you like) in the middle of the paper.  Pour your chili/honey mixture over the fish and seal up the envelope.

Let it sit on the counter a few mins while you chop up a clove or two of garlic and wash/chop a good plateful (remember they shrink) of some hearty green.  I like kale but arugula or bock choy or spinach or really whatever  you like would work.

Put your fish in the oven and wander off for 10-20 mins, depending on how rare/cooked you like your fish.

Come back and pull the fish out of the oven and carefully open the paper, there will be steam when you do so watch your hand.  Put a small sautee pan over high heat and add a splash of chicken stock (or water, or wine) to the pan, put your garlic in as well.  When it starts to simmer throw in your greens.  Toss greens with a fork until wilted (only takes about a min or two).

Plate greens (leaving water/stock in the pan) and dress them with salt/pepper and a smidge of really good olive oil.  Flip your fish over as you plate it because the bottom side got nice and browned and pretty from the honey, if you like pour over a bit of the cooking liquid as a sauce.  Pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy.

Asian Sort of Salad Nicose

And this is what happens when I cannot decide what the heck I want for dinner and am standing in the grocery store torn between 2 ideas.

Tuna Steak
Bok choy
Green beans
Red bell pepper
Shallot
Garlic
Soy sauce
Sesame oil
Olive oil
Egg yolks
Lemon juice
salt, pepper, ground ginger, garlic powder, red pepper flakes (yes, there is both garlic and garlic powder. and salt and soy sauce.)
Hard boiled egg (can make hard boiled quail eggs if you want to be cute/are serving to guests)

Preheat your oven to 400.  Clean your green beans and chop up your red pepper in green bean sized bits, cut your bok choy into fourths or so  and toss them onto a cookie sheet.  Hit them with some soy sauce, sesame oil, chopped garlic, chopped shallot, pepper, and red pepper flakes.  Put it in the oven for 10-15 mins depending on how caramelized you like your roasted veggies.

Meanwhile, heat up a skillet with a tiny bit of sesame oil (a super tiny bit.  Pour a smidge in the pan and wipe it mostly away with a paper towel.).  Season one side of your tuna steak with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and ground ginger.  When your pan is hot place it seasoned side down and season the top, cooking for about 3-3.5 mins per side.  Do not poke at it.  You want it to get a nice sear and be rare/medium rare.

Get out a small food processor or your blender or a whisk and some elbow grease for this next bit.  Whip the egg yolks and slowly incorporate sesame oil and olive oil (if you use 100% sesame oil it will be wayyyy too strongly flavored)  until you have an aioli. Add some lemon juice and season with salt/pepper to taste.

Cut your tuna steak into nice pretty slices (after it has rested, of course!).  Arrange on a platter with your roasted veggies, garnish with quartered hard boiled eggs and dress with your sesame aioli.