I was scratching my head over what to do with some yummy radishes and arugula, and stumbled upon an excellent and unexpected combination.  Most veggies in this recipe are in season and most are fresh from Spade and Clover Gardens, my brother John’s farm on John’s island.  Sesame features prominently.  The radishes are surprisingly sweet and buttery after cooked with onions and soaked in orange juice-infused sauce.

Serves 2
Total prep and cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Salad dressing:

1/2 tsp tahini
2 tsp umeboshi plum vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil

one quarter of an orange, chopped with rind removed

Mix the three salad dressing ingredients  and sprinkle sparingly over washed arugula and leaf spinach greens.  Leave about 1 tsp of the salad dressing for later.  Top the salad with the chopped orange pieces.

Radishes:

4 radishes, cut into matchsticks
1/2 onion, diced
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp tahini

Saute the onions and radishes in the sesame oil for about 8 minutes on low heat, uncovered, stirring occasionally.  When the radishes are soft and translucent, turn off the heat.  Then immediately add the garlic and tahini and mix thoroughly. Cover and set aside.

2 fresh tuna steaks
1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
2 tbsp orange juice
1 cup coarsely chopped bell peppers (I used a third of each of three colors of bell peppers)
ground ginger

Heat the sesame oil in a skillet on medium heat.  You’ll be doing the next steps in quick succession, so get everything ready.

Place the tuna on the pan; then pour the teriyaki sauce and orange juice on top of each steak evenly.  Add the chopped bell peppers to the pan.  Then immediately sprinkle ginger evenly on the top of the tuna steaks.  Allow the tuna to cook for 3 minutes uncovered, then flip and repeat the sprinkling of the ginger.  Allow to cook another three minutes and then immediately put onto the two serving plates.  Toss the bell peppers in the remaining sauce.

Add the radish mixture to the pan and allow the sauce to soak into it.  Then add the remainder of the salad dressing to the vegetables and stir just briefly to combine.  Serve on the plates with the tuna.