seared tuna with olive tapenade viniagrette and arugula-stuffed ravioli

Man, Do I ever miss Trader Joe's.

Living as an ex-pat in Canada for the past five years, I've almost become reconciled with the fact that there are a lot of things I gave up in moving from my native country. Yeah, I sometimes still long for the warehouse-sized wine and liquor stores I took for granted while living in Chicago. I miss shopping at CB2, Crate & Barrel Cost Plus World Market, and Target (!). Though not happy to have lost them, I can (mostly) live without.

But Trader Joe's, that's a different story.

Culturally deprived in the great white north, I've made semi-regular forays across the border to stock our cupboards with necessary provisions. I can't seem to get out of Trader Joe's these days for anything less than $200. And it amazes me even more that there are so many incredible items for so little money.

Take tuna, for example. TJ's sells frozen ahi tuna at a ridiculously low price of $5.00 for two steaks. Up here in Vancouver, ahi is largely unavailable. Even the locally fished albacore is hard to find, and it's just not as good anyway.

Since we stopped off to fill up at TJ's on the way back from a weekend in Seattle, the first thing I made when we were back home was a dinner sourced from some of my latest finds.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Trader Joe's mixed-olive tapenade
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
2 6-ounce ahi tuna steaks (each about 3/4 to 1 inch thick; available frozen from Trader Joe's)
2 cups (packed) baby arugula
Classico sun-dried tomato alfredo sauce
Trader Joe's Arugula & Parmigiano Reggiano Ravioli
6-8 sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 red pepper, chopped
2 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

Directions:
Mix tapenade, onion, basil, 3 tablespoons oil, vinegar, and lemon peel in medium bowl; season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle tuna with salt and pepper. Heat butter and olive oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tuna to same skillet; cook 2 minutes per side for medium-rare.

Divide arugula among 2 plates. Cut tuna into slices; arrange atop arugula. Spoon tapenade vinaigrette over tuna.

Meanwhile, prepare pasta sauce. First saute garlic in olive, adding chopped red peppers. Add using Classico sun-dried tomato alfredo and pasta water. Cook ravioli in boiling water until they float to top of water; drain and add to pasta sauce. Serve and sprinkle chopped parsley on top.