Craving a light dish last night as the temperature reached 98* outside...one of my favorite fishes calling to me from the fridge. As the cicada bugs were buzzing in the tree tops and the fan whirred back and forth I got inspired by the fresh watercress I bought at the market. I had seen a rice salad on Bravo's Top Chef a few months back (free plug) and decided I would attempt to make my own version. But what to season the tuna with? "Ah hah!", I said. Coriander, cumin, salt, pepper, and fresh garlic with olive oil easily became my decision. So I made a paste out of these ingredients and rubbed the fish with it. I let it sit while I made the salad. I rinsed the basmati rice until the water ran clear and then added about four cups water to one cup rice so that I could remove any excess starch. Then I drained it in a seive and let it cool in the fridge. Meanwhile I plucked my happy little watercress until I had about a light cup's worth and chopped up an heirloom tomato. Then I squeezed a lime and threw some chopped cilantro into my rice and added the watercress, a tbs. of olive oil, 2 tbs. minced red onion and tossed all my ingredients together. While grilling the fish I took care to not cook it any further than rare and rubbed some butter and more seasalt on the surface right before it was done. Back to the salad, I segmented an orange and used it to garnish the salad and squeezed the excess juice on the fish. That's it!
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