Happy New Year! The cookie tins are empty and the snack shelf bare—time to enforce some discipline without surrendering satisfaction. Our resolutions involve easy recipes, plenty of vegetables, and lean proteins. And bold flavor.
Sheet pan meals definitely fit the easy bill. Everything cooks in the oven on the same pan. The final dish is so attractive that there’s no need for serving platters, which minimizes clean-up.
I stock fish steaks and fillets in the freezer for weekday cooking. Broccoli delivers green goodness that lasts a week or more in the vegetable crisper drawer. A basket of red, white, and yellow onions on the counter means I can add their flavor and fiber to nearly every savory thing I cook.
A boldly flavored sauce/marinade, made from pantry staples such as barbecue sauce and maple syrup, comes together in minutes.
Choose 1- to 1 1/4-inch thick, boneless, skinless fish steaks, such as wild-caught bigeye tuna, Alaskan halibut, or salmon. Always thaw frozen fish slowly in the refrigerator; this helps preserve texture and moisture.
Serve the fish and broccoli with cooked rice. I’m partial to packets of hearty brown rice for convenience; they heat quickly in the microwave oven while the fish cooks.
Maple Barbecued Tuna and Broccoli Sheet Pan Dinner
Makes 4 servings
- 1/3 cup maple barbecue sauce
- 3 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup (or honey)
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 6 cups small broccoli florets, about 14 ounces
- 1 large red onion, halved, thinly sliced
- 4 wild-caught bigeye tuna steaks, about 1 pound, thawed if frozen
- 2 to 3 cups cooked rice, for serving
Mix barbecue sauce, 2 tablespoons of the oil, soy sauce, vinegar, maple syrup, Worcestershire, and crushed garlic in a large bowl. Add broccoli florets, sliced red onion, and tuna steaks. Toss to coat everything well with the sauce. Let stand at room temperature up to 30 minutes, or refrigerate covered for several hours.
Heat oven to 375 degrees F on convection or 400 degrees F on conventional setting. Use the remaining tablespoon of oil to coat a large, rimmed baking sheet.
Use tongs to transfer broccoli and red onion to the prepared baking sheet (let marinade drip back into the bowl). Bake, stirring once or twice, until broccoli is crisp-tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Add tuna to the pan. Drizzle with remaining marinade. Bake 5 minutes, then stir the vegetables well. Continue to bake until tuna is medium-rare (slightly pink in center), 4 to 6 minutes more. Serve hot with rice.
