Roasted Poblano Potato Salad with Tuna Steak
For me, a salad topped with a great tuna steak is one of the most delicious tell tale signs that spring is here and permanent warm weather is right around the corner (fingers crossed). It means that the grill is out for the season and the patio furniture has been brought out of storage. This also means that there's a 99% chance that I will be eating this salad while sitting at said patio furniture.
In my humble opinion, the grill makes food taste better no matter what it is. In this case, we are going to mix the flavors from the smoky grill with our Espresso Rub to create potatoes and tuna with an unmistakably delicious flavor profile. We love using our Espresso Rub on bold fish because the results are incredible. Not only does the combination of ingredients create a crust that helps the tuna retain all of the juices, but the unexpected flavor of espresso is always a welcome change of pace. You'll also get some fruity heat from the Ancho chile, the sweetness from the brown sugar and a little bit more heat from the De Arbol Chile.
This salad has just the variety of textures and flavors that make a great meal. The crunch of the Romaine lettuce is the perfect balance to the soft yet firm potatoes and flaky tuna steak.
Our Espresso Rub is a dry rub that can be used on almost any type of meat or bold fish (like tuna and swordfish). It is hand blended from ancho chile powder, brown sugar, paprika, ground sumatra (fresh dark roasted coffee), sea salt, black pepper, yellow mustard, coriander, ginger, de arbol chile powder and Mexican Oregano.
- 1 fresh poblano chile pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 4 medium red skin potatoes (about 1 LB total) or Yukon gold potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 medium red onion, sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 3 Tbsp mild vinegar
- 1 tsp Mexican Oregano
- 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
- 2 tsp Espresso Rub
- 2 6-oz. tuna steaks
- Romaine, butter lettuce or mixed greens lettuce for serving
- Heat your grill to medium.
- Using either a vegetable basket or aluminum foil on your grill, cook potato chunks on grill. (See here for more instructions on cooking potatoes.)
- Coat tuna steak with Espresso Rub.
- Place tuna steak on the grill for 3 minutes.
- Flip tuna steak and allow to cook an additional 3 minutes.
- Remove tuna steak and set on a plate to cool.
- Roast the peppers over an open flame turning regularly until blackened all over. This will take approximately 5 minutes.
- Place peppers in a bowl and cover with a kitchen towel until cool.
- When the potatoes are cooked and soft they can be removed from the grill.
- Place potatoes in a large bowl and set to the side.
- Rub the blacked skins off the peppers.
- Pull off the stems and remove the seed pods.
- Rinse the peppers to remove any extra skin or seeds and cut into 1/4 inch strips.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, for 4-5 minutes.
- Remove the skillet from heat.
- Stir in the vinegar, oregano, black pepper and pepper strips.
- Stir well, then pour the mixture over the warm potatoes.
- Let cool to room temperature, then gently stir in the tuna.
- Serve on top of lettuce or greens.
