Week Night Yum Yum: Grilled Tuna Bruschetta Style

A few weeks ago I had beautiful tomatoes to make bruschetta for dinner. But I didn't have bread. I did have two gorgeous tuna steaks I ended up not making the day before that I had to use up. So, I combined both dishes and thus Grilled Tuna Bruschetta Style was born. A combination of lightly seasoned grilled tuna steaks with a sweet Roma tomato, onion, basil and olive salad on top satisfied the cravings and saved me the carbs! The sweet tomatoes were balanced out nicely with salty green olives I added in, and the gorgeous juice got soaked up by the grilled tuna. And if you want the bread, you can have it on the side.

Grilled Tuna Bruschetta Style
2 tuna steaks
sea salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil + extra for salad
juice of 1 lemon
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper
4 ripe but firm Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup white or red onion, chopped
1 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped
1-2 Tbsp green Spanish olives


Bring tuna out of fridge and wash then pat dry with paper towels. Season both sides liberally with salt and pepper to taste.

Make the quick marinade for the tuna. Combine about 1/4 cup of olive oil, the lemon juice and Dijon mustard in a shallow baking dish. Add tun and coat on all sides. Cover and let stand to marinate at least 15 minutes, up to 4 hours (in the fridge if longer than 15 minutes).

Make the bruschetta salad. Combine the tomatoes, onion, basil and olives in a bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add a drizzle of olive oil (about 1 Tbsp) or enough to just coat the salad. Toss and set aside or cover and refrigerate if using later. (can be made up to 2 hours in advance).

Preheat your grill or stovetop grill to high. Sear the tun steaks, about 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Remove and top with the tomato salad. Serve immediately.


My Notes:
Swordfish steaks can be substituted easily here as well. Frankly any fish would work - white fish, salmon, etc. But make sure to note cooking times will vary according to what fish you use!

If you don't have fresh basil you can also use 1/2 tsp fresh chopped oregano and even some fresh thyme. But basil is the traditional herb for a bruschetta style salad.

You can also use cherry tomatoes instead of Roma. I don't recommend using heirlooms or big beefsteak ones as they'll be too juicy, and will make the salad and fish too soggy. Stick with Romas chopped up or cherry tomatoes halved.