Pan Seared Sesame Tuna with FM Vegetables - serves 4

In honor to celebrate this horrific weather we are having, I decided to do tuna the way I feel like everyday when I walk outside my door.  Searing.  It is so hot here that just to give you an example, at 5:45am this morning, my temperature gauge in my car (on my way to workout) read 87 degrees.  At 5:45am!!  As of now, the gauge is reading 103.  The heat index is a stifling 111 degrees. Every pool I've been in feels like bath water.  Getting out of the car just leaves sweat tracks. Kneecaps are dripping.  The only good thing that has come out of this heat is that I have yet to get bitten by a mosquito.  Even they are staying away.
I don't cook tuna often, but Whole Foods had it on sale so I grabbed 2 fillets, contemplating how great it would feel if I could just lie on ice with them.  These are really easy to do and it requires very little ingredients.  Add a fresh corn, red onion and spinach salad and you have a great dinner prepared.  The meal literally takes less than 10 minutes to prepare.  If only the heat of the summer would follow suit.

Ingredients

2 Ahi tuna fillets
2 tbs black sesame seeds
2 tbs white sesame seeds
1/2 tbs sea salt

Directions

Mix the black and white sesame seeds with salt in a shallow dish.  Heat a large stainless steel pan over medium heat. Add one fillet at a time, to the dish, coating with seeds.  Add to pan and sear about 1 minute, then flip, searing a minute more.  Repeat with other fillet.  (If you want it more cooked through, add more time.)

Slice tuna with the grain, and serve with your favorite salad.

Grilled Shrimp with Spaghetti Squash and Peach Salsa

Once again, the picture does not do the meal justice but the outcome was wonderful.  Summer brings not only gruesome heat in Texas, but it also tries to make amends by giving us the peach.  I've eaten enough peaches since they've come into season that I may begin to spit out seeds.  You can get them by the sackfuls at any farmers market, off 45 to Houston, Cooper Farms, http://www.cooperfarmspeaches.com, or make a 35 minute trip to Ham's Orchard in Terrell, Texas, http://www.hamorchard.com . We've made the trip to both, Ham's being twice, just for their ice cream.  They both sell ice cream however, Ham's even takes it up a notch and sells grilled burgers made right on the farm.  Top that with their ice cream and the day could end right then and there.  So, if you have the time, make the trip with the kids.  You'll beat the heat, if only for a bit, as you indulge in the sweetness of the peach.

Ingredients

1 pd shrimp, shelled and deveined (or keep shell on) then season with Kosher salt and fresh pepper
1 large spaghetti squash, prepared according to the stickers instructions

2 ripe peaches, seeds removed and diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 cup diced red onion
1 garlic clove minced
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs fresh lime juice
Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Give yourself about 45 minutes to prepare the squash. 

For the salsa, add everything from the peaches to the lime juice in a medium bowl.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

In the meantime, add olive oil to a large saucepan and heat until shimmering.  Add shrimp and saute for about 4-5 minutes, tossing to cook on each side.  Remove from heat. 
Scoop out spaghetti squash from its shell and add to a large bowl.  (I use a towel to hold as it's really hot!)  Season with salt and pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.  Toss to coat.  Add to bowls, top with shrimp with a side of the peach salsa.

*Salsa will last up to 1-2 weeks in the refrigerator.