Other than onions, I planted my garden after the Easter weekend. I normally plant in mid-April, but the late freeze discouraged me and I decided to wait. That same late freeze damaged my grapevines. I’m just now beginning to see the vineyard start to green up again.

With the first buds gone, I’m expecting the second budding to produce a significant drop in fruit. That means this season, I’ll have more foliage to manage with less grapes to show for it.

Spring is a very busy time on my little farm, so I try to keep dinners easy, quick and healthy. Last weekend I made tuna steaks served with fresh vegetables and salad greens.

Tuna Steaks with Greens
1-1/2 lbs. tuna steaks
2 tsp. lemon zest
1 Tbsp. rosemary, minced
1 cup parsley, finely chopped
3 tsp. garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
1 bunch asparagus spears
8 button mushrooms, sliced
1 head romaine lettuce
1 handful mixed salad greens
1 tomato, chopped
1 lemon, juiced
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wash asparagus and trim ends. Clean button mushrooms and slice. Drizzle about 2 tsp. olive oil over all. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Bake for 10 minutes, flipping and tossing the vegetables halfway through the cook time. Remove and let cool.

Mix together lemon zest, rosemary, parsley, garlic, 1 tsp. salt, 1⁄2 tsp. pepper and 1 tsp. olive oil. Spread mixture on both sides of the tuna steaks and place in an oven-safe baking dish. Cook for 8-12 minutes.

My advice if the tuna steaks are fresh and a pink middle is preferred, bake 4 minutes per half-inch thickness. If the steaks were frozen and thawed, cook 6 minutes per half-inch thickness. My steaks were frozen and about an inch thick. I cooked for 10 minutes. There is no need to flip the steaks halfway through the cooking time.

Toss together torn romaine leaves and mixed greens. Serve by laying a bed of greens on each plate. Place the asparagus spears, mushroom slices and chopped tomato on the plates. Lay 4 ozs. of sliced tuna steaks on top of each. Squeezed lemon juice, the juices from the roasted vegetables and tuna provide the dressing for the greens.

This recipe serves 6. Each serving contains 232 calories and 8 grams of fat. Salmon fillets could be substituted for tuna.