Cucumber-Watermelon Salad and Pan-seared Tuna Steak

Some dinners are not for the kids, really. Tonight was all about satisfying the two grown-ups in our house with something both healthy and unusual. With more and more glimmers of springtime in the air lately, I wanted to put together a dinner that was refreshing, somehow. While shopping this past weekend, I imagined what I might do with watermelon and cucumber, and how I would center a meal on two things I simply find refreshing.

I coarsely chopped the cucumber (just one) and watermelon (about a quarter of a small melon), and tossed them in a bowl with about a tablespoon of honey and maybe 2-3 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar. That's it. Simple and fast. 

As I considered what to serve with this salad concept, I decided a nice piece of fish would be great. I confess; I don't eat nearly enough fish, and I feel rather proud of myself when I think to make it for dinner. I have a nice bundle of sea salts in the kitchen, and once I had my wife figure out which was which (the print was way too small for my eyes), I decided to use a black olive sea salt. Again, simple and fast. I had a tiny splash of olive oil in the pan, and just added the salt. Nothing more. I served a plain bit of rice with this. 

The verdict

I liked this meal, especially the salad, and I'd make it all again. My wife was especially happy with the tuna. I am thinking that the salad would work nicely with a lemon chicken dish, or something similarly acidic.

Tuna steak with cucumber-watermelon salad

The slight hint of olive flavor from the salt was a nice touch on the fish, and I would like to use it similarly again in the future. 

The bonus tonight was watching our 1-year-old practically inhale the fish. The older daughter - there was no convincing her to try any of this dinner, but the little one is in that wonderful adventurous stage, and I loved watching her gobble up every bite we gave her.

We enjoyed a bit of pinot grigio with this dinner. And it was a nice grownup-centric dinner, for a change.

Strawberry Soup and Salad

For well over a year now, our older daughter has mimicked me cooking. She hasn't always mimicked what I've made however, and among the more creative ideas she's invented in her own mind was strawberry soup. I know it's been made. I know it could be made many different ways. But I wanted to make my own take on the concept in honor of my daughter, and in an effort to encourage spring to finally settle in for us, I figured a dinner of salad and cold soup would at least put is in the right mindset.

Strawberry Soup and Salad

I decided to keep this simple, and slightly sweet, and I wanted something cool and refreshing. I was pretty disappointed in the condition of the strawberries I'd just purchased yesterday. They looked great at the store, but by today, a cluster of them had begun to degrade pretty badly. I had to cut back my quantity, and also my hopes for the salad, where I'd planned to either add either slices of strawberry, or if there had been enough berries, perhaps even a nice fresh strawberry vinaigrette.  I put the strawberries that survived into the blender with a few tablespoons of water, a few baby carrots, honey, and a small hint of powdered sugar.

The salad was a basic mixed greens base with some sliced cucumber and Bermuda onion. I topped this with some sautéed chicken breast, and served it with a homemade honey mustard vinaigrette I generally keep on hand.

The verdict

This meal served two functions beyond feeding us tonight. It was an homage to my daughter, and with each day, I grow more and more fond of the girl she is becoming. She made me particularly proud tonight by actually tasting the strawberry soup, not once, but twice. I'll take that; she may not be ready to eat it, but at least she isn't fighting me as much on trying new things. For my wife and I, an added pinch of dried mint topped off the soup, and with that small extra flavor pop, my second purpose - giving at least our plates some hint of springtime - was served. I kept the soup portions small; too much cold soup, especially something on the sweet side, starts to feel like dessert all too quickly. I think some better-quality strawberries would have been helpful, but it was tasty, and both a refreshing change of pace, and simply refreshing.

We poured a couple of glasses of mediocre Riesling with our dinner, and the simplicity of the whole thing has me looking to the coming days, with daytime highs finally leaving the 30s, with great enthusiasm. I think I'll be making strawberry soup again, but I'll probably make sure to serve it colder, and I may add a bit more of the carrot next time. Maybe this summer, our older daughter will join us for a full helping.