Sometimes I get bored with lettuce-based salads, especially when I have plenty of veggies in the house. That’s when I came up with this version of Tuna Steak Salad.

What I love about this salad is that it doesn’t have much dressing on it. I’ve soaked the cucumbers in white balsamic vinegar for a few minutes, and drizzled olive oil and Greek seasoning over the zucchini ribbons. Tossed with the pan drippings from the seared tuna, there’s not much need for a salad dressing beyond that. Each serving is prepared in its own shallow bowl or plate rather than a communal bowl. I don’t use croutons for this salad.

Ingredients for the salad:

• Variety of fresh veggies: sugar snap peas, cucumbers, zucchini, colorful sweet peppers
• White balsamic vinegar for the cucumbers
• Greek Seasoning for the zucchini ribbons
• Premium olive oil for the zucchini ribbons
• Buttercrunch lettuce – not much, just enough for a “bed”
• Goat Cheese or Feta cheese crumbles

Ingredients for the Tuna Steak:

• Olive Oil for cooking
• Tuna Steak, about a 5-ounce filet
• Greek Seasoning for tuna steak
• 1 Tablespoon of butter
• 1 Tablespoon capers
• 2 teaspoons parsley flakes
• 2 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 Tablespoon chopped roasted red pepper
• 1 Tablespoon chopped sun-dried tomato
• 1/2 Meyer lemon

Prepare cucumbers “pickles” and zucchini: Slice cucumbers into disks and place in a bowl with enough white balsamic vinegar to coat each slice. Using a vegetable peeler, slice zucchini lengthwise into ribbons. Sprinkle Greek seasoning on both sides and drizzle with your favorite olive oil. Set aside.

Cook Tuna: In a cast iron or stainless steel skillet, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Dust tuna steak with Greek seasoning. When oil begins to move around, add tuna steak and sear until a crispy brown crust forms. Flip over and sear other side. Add butter, capers, parsley, garlic, chopped roasted red pepper, and chopped sun-dried tomato. Stir until butter becomes translucent. Turn off heat and leave on warm element. Squirt the half lemon over the tuna.

Finish salad: While the tuna is resting in a warm skillet, prepare the rest of the salad by placing a small bed of lettuce at the base of the each bowls or plates. I use about 3 to 5 leaves for each meal, enough to get both the green and red leaves on the plate. Take the cucumber disks and place around the edge of the bowl or plate. Roll up the zucchini ribbons and stand on ends. If necessary, remove “string” from snap peas and place snap peas around salad leaving the center for the tuna steak and herbs. Add rings of fresh sweet pepper as desired.

With a fork and knife while still in the skillet, flake or tear the tuna into bite-size pieces similarly to how you would do with pulled barbecue. The inside of the tuna should be lightly pink but cooked (not translucent or red). Stir tuna pieces with the pan drippings and then place in the center of the salad.

Finish with a few sprinkles of goat or feta crumbles.