One of the main issues with “dieting” or changing the way you usually eat, is that feeling of hunger. It comes before, after and even during a meal. It’s annoying and one of the main driving factors people give up on a diet. Typically, you’re removing a lot of the crap you put into your body and it’s that crap that makes you feel full. Breads, pasta, heavy sauces, all complex carbs that make you walk away with that full belly feeling and tide you over until the next feeding.

But you can do it! Just get past those first 7 days, they are the worst.

As #hotwife started her Whole30 adventure, the goal has been to find meals that keep her full and truly satisfied. So when I made the very ubiquitous, Nicoise Salad, I was super pumped to find it made her feel stuffed.

I was pretty stuffed, too.

This thing has all the makings of a healthy meal but is also man/dad approved. Dad’s, you can’t mess this thing up and trust me, you’ll make everyone happy with the end result.

In fact, we ended up making this 3 times in a week, using different proteins. Different tastes each time, but same result: Happy and full.

Paleo, Whole30 and Gluten Free. The trifecta of things you roll your eyes at when you hear people talking about it.

We made this Nicoise Salad with seared Ahi Tuna.

Let’s get cooking!

Estimated Calories: 490

Prep: 30 minutes Cook: 20 minutes Total: 50 minutes (could be longer depending on how long you marinate your fish)

INGREDIENTS YOU’LL NEED:

2 6oz Ahi Tuna fillets (sub chicken breast/steak/canned tuna, etc.)
4 eggs, hard-boiled, peeled, and sliced
1 head of Boston lettuce
4 Campari tomatoes, 4^th those things
1 cup red onion, sliced very thinly
PRO-TIP: Put the sliced onions in a bowl and add a tablespoon or 2 of the vinaigrette. Mix and let it marinate in there while you prep the rest. Makes a WORLD of difference.
Green beans; use however many you want (about 10 per plate)
¼ cup niçoise or pitted kalamata olives

The Vinaigrette

1/2 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium shallot, minced
1 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, minced
2 Tbsp. fresh basil leaves, minced
2 tsp. fresh oregano leaves, minced
1 tsp. Dijon or homemade mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Ahi Tuna

Soy Sauce
Olive Oil
Black Sesame Seeds
Macadamia Nut oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

The Vinaigrette

1. Make this first.
2. Thyme is my least fav herb to deal with because it’s impossible to get all the damn twigs separated from the leaves. But the extra work is worth it.
3. Do a super fine chop on all the fresh herbs.
4. Combine all of the above stuff in a bowl and whisk the f*cuk out of it. For real, use this time to get out some pent-up aggression.
5. Separation is going to be natural. You know, oil and lemon juice…

Hard-Boiled Eggs

I’ve messed this up enough to know I should probably pass along how I do it:

1. Put eggs in pot large enough to hold them in single layer. For real, I end up using a pretty big pot, because…
2. Add cold water to cover eggs by 1 inch. That’s more water than you think it will be, but necessary.
3. Heat that up; just to a boil.
4. QUICK, turn off the heat, remove from the burner and put the damn lid on.
5. Leave it in there for 12 minutes.
6. Drain, put in ice water, let cool.
7. Take them out of the ice water, pat dry and let them get to room temperature-ish.
8. The room temperature part is where it makes it easier to peal (which is about as annoying as prepping the thyme).
9. PRO-TIP: The fresher the egg, the harder a time you’ll have pealing after hard-boiling. That’s science.

Green Beans

1. Chop the ends off the beans.
2. In a sauté pan, put the beans and about an inch or so of water.
3. Bring to a boil and let boil for 3 minutes.
4. Remove from heat and put beans in an ice bath. This is called “shocking” so they stop cooking, stay tender but crispy.

Ahi Tuna

1. Make this last.
2. Put fish in a bowl or something, rub it all over with Olive Oil and Soy Sauce.
3. Sprinkle on black sesame seeds.
4. Let marinate for 30 minutes – 1 hour
5. Put iron skillet on a burner and bring to smoking hot (that’s a real temperature. Also science)
6. Right before you add the fish, I like to add some Macadamia Nut oil (or some other high-temp cooking oil) to a paper towel and rub all over the hot skillet.
7. There will be smoke, but your fish won’t stick.
8. Immediately add the fish and cook for 2 minutes on each side.
9. Take off and serve it up!

Combine

Get your plate with all the salad trimmings ready to go, before you cook the fish, as you’ll want to eat right after the fish is complete.

1. Wash the lettuce and add as many leaves as it takes to cover the plate.
2. Add all the ingredients into little quadrants (see picture).
3. Add your Ahi tuna (protein).
4. Drizzle the vinaigrette over everything and chow down.

Be happy with what you just put into your body.

Inspiration for this one and the vinaigrette recipe, from Paleo Leap.