Dinner in a Snap

I needed dinner to be really fast tonight. Not from any crisis or anything, I just wasn't in the mood to cook so this afternoon I laid out a couple of tuna steaks and marinated them in this:

UPDATE: Rachel of Foodie Rachel was the first to say anything about the Mondo bottle.  I didn't marinade the tuna in purple kool-aid, I promise, I just stuck it in there to see if anyone would notice and say anything.  My marinade was:  the juice of the lime, soy sauce, a healthy teaspoon of minced garlic & ginger, a touch of Wasabi, and some minced lemongrass that I added after the photo was taken.

They were done lickety split on the George Foreman, although I wasn't crazy about the way the soy sauce darkened the colors.  They tasted great though.

And then rounding out the meal were some really nice pre-roasted and seasoned Mediterranean veggies from Schwan's that the only thing I added to was a handful of edamame.

And a kidney bean salad. Does anyone else make this?  It's something my grandmother used to make, sort of along the lines of pea salad. Normally there's chopped hard-boiled egg but I didn't take the time. It's just a can of rinsed and dried kidney beans, minced celery and green onion, a spoon full of mayo, a splash of lemon, and a hit of seasoned salt and pepper.  Then it's chilled for an hour or two before being served.

It tastes better than I think it looks.  I've never seen this anywhere but on my Nannie's table. Anybody else grow up with this?

Comments

[Deborah Dowd]

This looks like a great dinner (I'd like to see what you do when you are inspired!) I have never seen a kidney bean salad like this, but am dying to try it!

[foodierachel]

You eat Rooster sauce too! Ahh! What is this world coming to!??? Is that Kool-aid you marinated them in? Or was that thrown into the picture just to throw me off? The tuna steak looks really good though, I'm a sucker for a good tuna steak. Have you tried the one at Millie's Turn of the Century Cafe? Its killer.

[Glenna]

Deborah--Thanks!That's really kind. Let me know what you think about the bean salad. It may be one of those things you have to grow up with to appreciate.

Rachel--You win the prize! I was being ornery and threw the Mondo bottle in there just to see if anyone would notice or say anything!

Love Millies. Speaking of tuna, did you see that James Clary is closing down FISH and reopening that space as the new Clary's?

[sher]

Uh-oh, now you're testing us! :):) I didn't spot the ringer (Mondo bottle). I love grilled tuna (Doug of King Of Queens favorite fish because "It's fish that tastes like steak!")

[Glenna]

Yes! Totally agree. It's so firm and meaty. Just love it. Can't figure out how something that good, though, because the stuff in the can.

[Butta Buns]

I must try this tuna recipe, it looks great. I wonder if broiling won't dry it out though.

Schwans!!!!! I almost forgot about them. Before the Internet explosion, nobody here would believe me that a delivery truck full of frozen goods and ice cream came door to door on a regular basis. They thought I was making it up!

[Glenna]

BB--That's funny because we've been buying Schwan's for years now. Actually, so long that our Schwan's guy is a personal friend now! I love their stuff. Their ice cream is great but they've really come uptown with all of their food, and unlike most of what's in the freezer section at the grocery, their stuff is packaged to be frozen. I won't eat convenience food from the grocery hardly at all now. I'd be lying if I said I made everything from scratch but lets be real. I work. I have hobbies. I have a life. Gene doesn't cook. Most of our lunches and most of our frozen vegetables are coutesy of Schwan's.

Plus, I have to brag. We have a local city-wide event in Springfield called Sertoma Chili Cook-off that obviously is a Sertoma charity. When I was in respiratory school, my class did the Cook-off as a class charity. When I approached our local Schwan's dealership thinking they would give us $50 in gift certificats like the restaurants I hit up, they kicked in ALL of the chicken we needed to make gallons and gallons of white chicken chili. I can't even remember how many hundreds of dollars it came to at retail cost.

That's good business but they went above and beyond.

[Alisha]

I love Schwan's ... most of my friends don't understand why I consent to pay more for their products, but their quality is just far and above what you can get at either the grocery store or wholesale clubs. Add in what you just said about the chicken they donated and that makes it even a better company to buy from.

I bet that bean salad is delicious. I've never heard of it before. (I do make that pea salad, though, with Schwan's frozen peas.)

[Glenna]

Totally agree with you about Schwan's! You know what else I like? Since there's only Gene and I, I love the way the meat is packaged in individual portions. It's so convenient to pull out two chicken breasts, or two steaks, or two pork loin chops. And with the individual vacuum packaging, the meat is great!

So glad someone else knows what I'm talking about.