Ahi Tuna Burgers with Wasabi Mayo and Oven Fried Potatoes

Posted on May 17, 2015 by

IMG_2063 I don’t miss meat very much. I was never a big meat-eater, so giving it up a few years ago was really easy. But I did miss burgers. Not the meat so much…I liked the big, fat, juicy tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, pickles and perfectly toasted bun. So veggie burgers pretty much filled that void. Until I had the ahi tuna burger at J. Alexanders. I love it! It’s been on their “special” menu for the last year or so but they have yet to put it on the regular menu, so I fully expect to go one day and be told it’s gone, never to be had again.

I’ve been on a quest to find a recipe, one that was relatively simple, healthy, and tasty. I have tried a few variations, but they mostly ended up tasting like crab cakes. So yesterday I decided to 86 the bread crumbs and mayonnaise and try to keep it mostly tuna. Surprisingly, even without an egg or mayo to bind it, they held together quite nicely! We were too hungry to wait for the grill to heat up, so I pan-fried them with a tiny bit of olive oil, and they were delicious!

The wasabi mayo was for Jeff, who likes a little spice, but mine was perfectly fine without it. I will say, start with a little less wasabi, and add more to taste. That stuff is strong!

This was seriously a simple meal. From start to finish…45 minutes. But I think next time I’ll make up the burgers in the morning and keep them in the fridge until cooking. They were extremely thick burgers, and 2-3 minutes on each side was plenty! If you use sushi quality tuna, you could cook them even less for rare.

Ahi Tuna Burgers with Wasabi Mayonnaise

  • Time: 45 minutes
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Wasabi-Lime Mayonnaise

1/4 cup mayo (I used reduced fat)
1/2-1 teaspoon prepared wasabi paste (start with 1/2 tsp, increase to taste)
juice from 1/2 lime

Whisk all ingredients together, store in refrigerator. Will keep for several days.


Tuna Burgers

2 8-oz pieces of yellowfin or ahi tuna, roughly chopped
1-2 Tbsp. Sesame Oil
3/4 tsp kosher salt (or himalayan pink salt)
3/4 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, leaves only, chopped coarsely
2 Tbsp chopped scallions
1 clove chopped garlic
1/4 tsp garlic powder

2 Kaiser type buns
Red onion, thinly sliced
Lettuce
Tomato, sliced
Avocado, sliced

First make the mayo: Place lime juice, mayo, wasabi paste, and a little salt and pepper to small bowl, whisk until blended well.

For the burgers:

Chop the tuna, place in food processor.  IMG_2058

Add cilantro, scallions, garlic, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Top with sesame oil. IMG_2060

Pulse the mixture a few times until roughly ground. Don’t puree!IMG_2061
Form the mixture into two large burgers, or four smaller ones. If making two large burgers, make sure your buns are large enough. These burgers don’t shrink up like beef does, since the fat content is so low!IMG_2062
Cook on medium heat (either in grill pan on the grill or frying pan on the stove coated with a little olive oil). 2-3 minutes each side, or to desired level of doneness.

Toast the buns, top with lettuce, tomato, onion and avocado. Use mayonnaise sparingly, or to taste.

The oven fried potatoes were super easy…Slice into strips, toss with a couple TBSP of olive or sesame oil, sprinkle with seasonings of your choice (I used kosher salt, course black pepper, garlic powder, and some finely chopped fresh rosemary and thyme.)  Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes until browned, turning at the halfway mark.

 

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Easy Vegetarian Lettuce Wraps

Posted on May 9, 2015 by

veggiewraps

*This post is recycled from my old blog, Busy Mom’s Journal. About five years ago, I watched the movie “Food, Inc.”, and promptly lost my taste for meat.  I made J watch the most heartbreaking parts with me, he had the same reaction, and so for the last five years, we have given up eating meat.  It’s healthier, and we feel better not supporting the factory farm industry.  I am constantly searching for non meat-versions of protein, and other than beans and fish, we sometimes get in a rut.  Eating tofu was a new experience for us, and to be honest, neither of us really like the texture.   The only experience we have had Continue reading →

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The upside of the Empty Nest

Posted on May 8, 2015 by

I haven’t written in such a long time. There are many reasons, but every time I’ve sat down to write, I haven’t been able to harness my thoughts into one topic. So in warning, this is a stream of consciousness that I hope will jumpstart a regular writing schedule. The reason I started this blog (in it’s previous form Busy Mom’s Journal) was to journal my life with my family so that I could look back in years to come. It didn’t matter that no one read it, I’ve actually learned a lot by revisiting the things that we went through in the last several years.  I hate that I haven’t written in so long, and Continue reading →

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An Empty Nest…again

Posted on January 3, 2015 by

This morning I walked into my kitchen and saw this.  IMG_1748

And started crying. It was completely unexpected, just like it was when I went to a farmer’s market in the fall of 2012 and teared up when I spotted the eggplant section. That was the first time I realized she wasn’t coming home, at least not in the near future. I had just dropped her off in California for her first semester of college. She was the only person in our family who loved eggplant, so I had no reason to buy them, not then, nor in the near future.

It wasn’t a big cry, and it wasn’t even that sad. It was just… Continue reading →

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Lessons from my First Tough Mudder

Posted on September 7, 2014 by

finisherAfter two showers and a soaking bubble bath, I still have dirt under my fingernails, and cuts and bruises in places I’ve never had before, but I feel so good. Yesterday, I did my first Tough Mudder challenge. As they remind us, over and over before we start, it’s not a RACE, it’s a CHALLENGE. I’m not one to shy away from a challenge, in fact, tell me I can’t do something,  and something in me wants to just do it. But this was different. I don’t know if it’s because Continue reading →

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Why I cried during Tough Mudder

Posted on September 7, 2014 by

There was a point, a little over 7 miles into my first Tough Mudder event here in Snowmass, that I started crying. No, I wasn’t crying because it was tough, or because I was freezing cold and couldn’t feel my feet. Yes, those things happened. But the thing that really pulled on my heartstrings and caused me to run while I was blabbering like a baby, was shaking the hand of another participant.

These are the true heroes, and I am proud to have shared the course with them.   (Image from
2013 Tough Mudder in Beaver Creek, CO)

As we were climbing up the service road towards Sam’s Knob, Continue reading →

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Taking a trip down Nashville’s memory lane

We’ve been back in Nashville for two weeks and I am happy and exhausted.  There are awesome things about spending large chunks of time in the places that make me happy, like Colorado and North Carolina, but I have to be honest when I say, there’s really NO place like home!  Especially in April, Nashville is a glorious place to be.  It’s green everywhere, the birds are singing, the weather is perfect, the shopping is getting so much better, there are a myriad of new restaurants to try out, and most of all, my friends and family are here.  Among the many benefits of having an empty nest, besides the flexibility to travel and spend time away from home, is the ability to socialize whenever you want.

IMG_8108

Springtime in Nashville…it’s the best!

So when we pass through Nashville after being away for almost four months, and want to re-connect with our friends and family, we experience a social life that we never had.  Long coffees that extend to lunch, nights out with my girlfriends, dinner on a school night, leisurely lunches…all possible without worrying about getting dinner on the table at 6, or school meetings, or daily grocery store trips.  When you’re only in town for a couple of weeks at a time, that means squeezing get-togethers in on a daily basis!

It’s been great.  And exhausting. But I feel like I’m experiencing my home town in an entirely new way.  It’s unbelievable how much this little town has changed, seemingly overnight.  After dinner at Pinewood Social Club the other night, our friends drove us around downtown like we were guests, and honestly, I felt like one.  Between the new Convention Center, the new Omni Hotel, tons of hip new restaurants with outdoor patios for dining, and the throngs of tourists on Broadway, I felt like I had never been here before!

Image

Music City Center-image from The Tennessean archives

Back in the middle ages, when we were celebrating my friend’s bachelorette party at the Urban Lounge on 2nd Avenue (anyone remember that place?), I remember driving down a deserted 2nd avenue at 1 a.m., and one of our friends had to pee, so she hopped out of the car and ran over to an alley to do her business.  (I’ll never tell who!).  There was literally NO ONE around.  There were two places to go on 2nd avenue back then (other than Tootsie’s), Urban Lounge and Ace of Clubs.

My little tour of downtown had me thinking about the Nashville of my youth.  (Geez, I sound old…oh yeah, I AM old!)  I have a lot of memories as a 20-something of downtown.  I met my husband at Ace of Clubs (through a mutual friend, not a bar pick-up, thank you very much!).  Ace of Clubs was a bar/dance place that had cages you could dance in, and I have many memories of that place, which later became Bar Nashville.  Before that, my girlfriends and I would drive down to TGIFridays on Elliston Place, Exit-In (REM, The White Animals, Talking Heads, Jimmy Buffet, Tom Petty, They Might be Giants…so many great bands played there), the Mardi Gras nightclub down by the warehouses near the river downtown, where you could buy the most potent Long Island Tea in existence, and HeartThrob’s at the Fountain Square Mall in Metro Center (an 80’s dance club where a VIP card let you bypass the throngs of people waiting to get inside).

IMG_8158

Ready to go out, Big Hair, Big Eyeshadow and all!

heartthrob

 

There was The Wind in the Willows off West End, where we went to see “Hubert Davis and the Season Travelers”…probably the best bluegrass band I’ve ever heard.  (Apologies to the Steep Canyon Rangers, who run a close 2nd).  I remember Hubert’s tag line like it was yesterday…

“Wednesday….Thursday…..Friday…..and Saturday night…every week that
rolls around, right here at the Wind in the Willows (or later, the Bluegrass Inn).  If you like your friends you tell em about it, if not, then keep your mouth shut.  Every things gonna be alright!”

        — the late great Hubert Davis

Click here to hear them play “Rocky Top”!

The hot apple pie a la mode at the Elliston Place Soda Shop, the caramel popcorn at Harding Mall (one of two malls we had in the early 70’s that were nice, clean, and very busy), the hometown department stores, Castner-Knott and Cain-Sloan (I was on the “Teen Board” at Cain-Sloan in 1978-1979), Harvey’s downtown with the amazing carousel horses and their nativity scene at Centenniel Park, and  I worked at “The Jewel Box” when it opened in Hickory Hollow Mall in the late 70’s, a busy, crowded, teenage hangout of a place.

Image

Jewel Box was a jewelry store…in the upper left corner of this pic

I remember when a friend moved to Brentwood back when I was in elementary school.  It was so far, it felt like we were going on an overnight whenever we drove out there to visit.  But during the 80’s, Nashville had truly become a metropolitan area, spread out from Brentwood and Franklin on one side to Madison and Goodlettsville on the other.  But the thing that I remember, is that no matter where we went, we ran into people we knew!  We’d drive 20 minutes to get to downtown where we’d run into all our friends.  That doesn’t happen anymore.

When I start that journey down memory lane, it’s not just the 70’s and 80’s…the 60’s pop in there, too, and they start flooding back.  The rollercoaster at Fair Park, swimming at Pine Springs, shopping at Zayre (our 70’s version of Target), baseball games at Una Recreation Center, Hermitage landing, Vandyland, prom dates at the Jolly Ox, Sailmaker’s or Cajun’s Wharf,  “Creature Feature” on TV with Sir Cecil Creep, that weatherman that threw chalk and caught it in his pocket after every forecast “by George!”, Coyote McCloud on Y-107…”Lock it in and rip the knob off!”, and Scott Shannon at WMAK,  Shoney’s, Opryland (where I had season passes and basically used it as summer camp for a couple of years, before having a series of summer jobs sweeping or working the kiddie rides), the “Dixie Flyers” professional hockey at the Municipal Auditorium, driving out to the old airport to stand on the outdoor observation deck to watch planes land and take off…I think you get the picture.  Once I start thinking back it’s never ending.

I do love the changes that have happened in our fair city…it’s nice to have so many more options in shopping, dining, and the arts, but I miss the ‘small town’ ambience of Nashville.  I think it has taken me 50+ years, and leaving Nashville for months at a time to really appreciate our history.

What do you remember about Nashville?

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Five Tips for Easing the Transition to an Empty Nest

Posted on April 22, 2014 by

Before I became a mom, my entire life was wrapped up in my career.  I couldn’t imagine why women would get off the work train, just to stay at home to take care of a kid. What did they do during the day, besides change a couple of diapers and feed the kid a couple of times?  There was no way I would give up what I had worked for for ten years, just to babysit and sit around.  Little did I know.  They placed this little bundle of love in my lap, she grabbed my finger, as well as my heart, gave me a huge, toothless smile, as if to say, Continue reading →

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Altercations on the Ski Lift

Posted on March 3, 2014 by

When my daughter was a little girl, she came home from ski school to tell me that she didn’t like snowboarders, because they were “disrespectful”.  That was a pretty big word for my 7-year-old, but it turns out, a boarder had cut in front of their line of beginners, sprayed snow in their faces, and even caused a few tears.  It took her a few years, but she finally came to terms with the fact that boarders and skiers have to peacefully coexist on the mountain, and for the most part, they do.

In fact, people here in Snowmass seem to be overly gracious.  When lines come together, Continue reading →

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Things I love about Snowmass

Posted on February 14, 2014 by

We have four fantastic mountains to choose from out here, all with their own distinct personalities and offerings.  The most “famous” is Aspen Mountain, known for it’s steep terrain (there are ZERO green runs), Aspen Highlands, the “local’s” mountain, with the famous hike to Highland Bowl, a treasure trove of inbound backcountry-feeling terrain, and Buttermilk, known for the X-games, along with gentle, rolling terrain suitable for beginners and families.

Woody Creek Snowmass

Woody Creek in Snowmass

Then there is Snowmass, my favorite.  Of course, living here makes it easy to enjoy its 3,332 acres of terrain, but we CHOSE to live here, rather than Aspen, where we would be closer to the nightlife and famous apres’ scene, as well as restaurants and shopping to die for.  We can easily drive the 8 miles to Aspen to do those things, but for the things WE like to do during the day, Snowmass is hard to beat. The Delicious Day Blog recently quite thoroughly discovered 22 things to love about Snowmass.  From the on-mountain restaurants, varied terrain and free goodies on the mountain to the lack of lift lines (seriously), they covered a lot.  But there is so much more to love about Snowmass.  Here are some of my favorite things.

1.  It’s easy to get from one side of the mountain to the other

Before we became part time residents, our one-week-a-year trek to Colorado used to be to Beaver Creek.  We liked the multitude of intermediate terrain, since we weren’t very adventurous in our short visits.  Our daughter liked the ski school, and we are creatures of habit so that was where we went.  It wasn’t until we decided to see what the fuss was about at Snowmass that we realized that we really didn’t like poling over from the main ski area at Beaver Creek to Bachelor’s Gulch or Arrowhead.  At Snowmass, there are four main areas…Elk Camp, Alpine Springs/Upper Alpine, Sheer Bliss/BigBurn/Cirque, and the Village Express/Sam’s Knob area.  it’s so easy to ski from the Elk Camp area on one side to the Sam’s Knob area on the opposite side of the mountain.  Literally, ONE run down and ONE lift up.  And it’s that way no matter where you want to go on the mountain.

2.  Uphilling is allowed during all operational hours, on the entire mountain, except for busy Adam’s Avenue Hiking on Elk Camp

On days that I want to mix it up a little, I love to hike uphill.  It’s such an incredible way to be outside, get a kick a$$ workout, and if you’re skinning uphill on your skis, you can also take a few turns afterwards.  But some days, especially if it’s a sunny day and we haven’t had snow in a few days, it’s so easy to throw on your Yaktrax (cleats that go on your hiking boots), and head out for an adventure.  At Snowmass, we can do it any time of day.  If you want to hike up Aspen Mountain, you have to be at the Sundeck (restaurant at the top) by 9 a.m.!  At my speed, that probably means I’d have to start way before sunrise.  No, thank you.  Same goes for Aspen Highlands…you have to be at the Merry-Go-Round (mid-mountain) by 9.  Buttermilk will allow you to go any time of day (except during X Games), but the terrain is not nearly as varied.  At Snowmass I can change up my hike every day.  I like to hike to the on-mountain restaurants for lunch or a snack before heading back down.

3.  Long runs

I like to ski.  I don’t like to ride the lifts.  When the trails are short, you spend three or four times as much time on a lift as you do skiing down.  Snowmass has 150 miles of trails (vs. Aspen Mountain’s 64 miles), with the longest run of almost 6 miles!  And with 8 high speed quad or six chair lifts, plus a gondola to warm up a little if you need to, you can get back up to the top pretty quickly.

4.  Ambassadors

This is actually a perk on all four mountains, but I didn’t know about them until this year.  There are several “ambassadors” every day on the mountain, and if you are new to the area, or don’t want to ski by yourself, you can get paired with an ambassador to show you around.  And it’s free of charge!  I love when they end up on the lift with me, because they’re a treasure trove of information, and their job is to answer questions and show people around.  They are all volunteers, and the only payment they receive is a season’s pass.  Look for the Grey Aspen Jackets and reddish-pink pants…they’re all around!  I actually think it’s a pretty cool job to have.  As much as I like to talk to people, I think that is one volunteer job I’d love to have!

5.  Restaurants/Vegetarian Fare

As a pescatarian, (vegetarian + fish), it’s sometimes hard to dine out in Colorado.  They love their meat here.  But it’s getting much better.  Here are some of my favorite dishes for lunch on the mountain, or in the Mall.

Stew Pot:  Veggie Chili (tiny place in the mall area…be prepared to wait for a table, but  it’s worth it.)

Venga Venga: Veggie Fajitas, Fish Tacos (also in the mall. Best margaritas you’ve ever had, too!)

Ulrhof:  Mahi Sandwich or Veggie Burger

Up for Pizza:  Cheese Pizza and Chocolate Chip Cookies

Elk Camp Restaurant:  All organic, local, and lots of choices.  Tomato Soup in a Bread Bowl, Veggie Pizza, Grilled Cheese, and an unbelievably huge salad bar.  Also, the vegetable sides are awesome!

Sam’s Smokehouse:  No veggie or fish sandwiches, unfortunately, but fried green tomatoes, baked beans and corn muffins, and a veggie kabob.

6.  Nordic Trails

Here in Snowmass, you can enjoy one of the largest free groomed cross-country ski systems in North America! 60 MILES of free, groomed cross country and snowshoe trails connecting Snowmass to Aspen and Basalt.

7. Lack of Lift Lines

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Lift Lines on last week’s powder day!

This can’t be mentioned enough.  Vail lift lines are so long you can see them from space!  Here, even after 3 feet of new snow, nothing.    During Christmas, President’s Weekend, and Spring Break you might have to wait 5 minutes at Elk Camp, Alpine Springs, or the Village Express lift.  Other than that…nothing.  Seriously, nothing.

8.  Labor Day Jazz Festival

Train at JAS snowmass

Jazz Aspen/Snowmass holds their big money maker on Labor Day weekend here in Snowmass!  It’s three days of not much jazz, but a variety of big name concerts.  In the last three years we have seen Train, Keith Urban, Journey, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Trombone Shorty, Jason Mraz, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, and Michael Franti, just to name a few.

9.  Summer Free Thursday night concerts

During summer season, there are free concerts every Thursday night on the hillside next to Venga Venga.  Rock, Blues, Funk, Bluegrass…it’s always fun.

10.  Snowmass Club

I love the Snowmass Club.  Yes, you do have to buy a membership, but if you need a full service gym with incredible Tennis, Golf, and Swimming, it is a wonderful facility.  Yes, living here gives you multiple choices to exercise in the great outdoors, but sometimes you just want a good workout, a massage, or a tennis lesson.  And the Snowmass Club has it all.

11.  Bar at 8K

Sure, Aspen has a lot of great restaurants.  And you can always grab a quick meal at a multitude of bars.  But Snowmass is catching up.  We always enjoy grabbing a quick bite at the 8K at the Viceroy.  The bartenders are friendly, you can watch whatever sports event is on, and even though you can order off the full menu, the bar menu has several choices for pescatarians.  The trout almondine is to die for!

12.  Mountain Biking

I don’t mountain bike anymore (too many broken bones).  But my husband does, and the network of mountain bike trails starts right outside our back door!  More than 50 miles of unbelievably cool tracks, from beginner to single track advanced, downhill, climbs or freeride, we have it all.

13. Summer Hiking

Buckskin Pass

I can’t say enough about the hiking.  Every distance.  Every ability.  Yoga hikes.  Nature Hikes.  Gut busting hill climbs, or gentle, meandering, view-filled hikes.

14.  Wildlife

backyard bear

Beautiful black bear, mule deer, elk, raccoon, coyote, beaver, skunk, badger, bobcat, mountain lion, porcupine and fox all make their home in and around Snowmass.  I feel like I’m at a zoo.  Last summer I spent a couple hours watching a little orphaned black bear eat grass in the backyard.

15.  Quiet

This is probably the biggest reason we live in Snowmass, instead of Aspen.  There is definitely always something fun going on there, and we have the choice to experience it.  But when we’re ready to go home, we happily return to the peace and quiet of Snowmass.

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