This salad is a variation of my Basque chicken salad. In fact it's almost identical, apart from the chicken being swapped our for tuna, and a different dressing to complement the fish.
We love the Basque salad, but I thought it would work really well with tuna steaks, and it does!
I will repeat the same advice as I have for the chicken version, as in this isn't a quick salad to make if you make everything from scratch!
Alternatively, you can buy jarred roasted peppers and sun-dried tomatoes. These are great alternatives, if you want a quicker version with almost identical flavours.
Check out my Instagram reel and see how I make it!
Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a light lunch or starter
1 tuna steak per person
Olive oil
For the salad
Bag of rocket or salad leaves
4 or 5 medium sized tomatoes OR a jar or tub of sun-dried tomatoes
Olive oil
Seasoning
2 red peppers OR a jar of roasted red peppers
Tub or jar of artichoke hearts
Pickled red onion slices
Kalamata olives
For the caper vinaigrette
6 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
2 tablespoons of white wine or cider vinegar
1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
1 small garlic clove (finely grated or crushed)
Capers or non-pareilles capers (optional)
Seasoning
Method
Please read the whole recipe before you start cooking. Note that if you have two ovens, then you can cook the tomatoes and peppers at the same time.
To cook the tomatoes (if making from scratch)
- Heat the oven to 110°C.
- Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Cut the tomatoes into approx 1cm slices.
- Spread evenly across the tray and drizzle with olive oil.
- Season.
- Place in the oven for 1 to 1.5 hours until the tomatoes are wrinkled and lacking in moisture (see image 2).
- Remove from the oven and set aside.
To cook the peppers (if making from scratch)
- Heat the oven to 200°C.
- Line a baking tray with greaseproof paper.
- Cut the peppers in half and remove the seeds.
- Lay on the baking tray, cut side down.
- Place in the oven for 30-40 minutes, rotating the tray halfway through, until the peppers are blackened (see image 3).
- Remove the peppers from the tray and place in a bowl. Cover with clingfilm and leave for at least 15 minutes.
- Remove the clingfilm and peel the skin off the peppers.
- Cut the peppers into thick slices and set aside.
To assemble the salad
- Scatter the rocket and/or salad leaves over the plates / salad bowls and top with the tomatoes, peppers, artichoke hearts, pickled red onions and olives (see image 6).
To cook the tuna and finish the salad
- Remove the tuna from the fridge and rub a little olive oil and seasoning into each side of the steaks.
- Drizzle a little olive oil into a frying pan over a medium heat.
- Once the pan is nice and hot, add the tuna steaks and leave for 1½-2 minutes, then carefully turn over and cook for a further 1½-2 minutes. (The steaks should still be pink in the middle at this stage, if you want, you can cook them for a little longer, but be careful not to overcook them, or they take on the texture of cardboard!).
- Top the salads with the tuna, drizzle over the dressing and serve.
