All my favorite things...in a pan!

It has been a pretty lousy week so far. Work has been nightmarish and I'm finding myself less and less resilient to certain aspects of my job. I'm finding that a lot of this stress is manifesting itself in really strange ways, such as weird jaw pain. All day today my jaws have been tight and I've had a headache and I left work early because I just couldn't deal with the stress there anymore. However, when I got home tonight and started to make dinner, all the stress just sorta melted away. I was even humming a little bit and struttin' around the kitchen thinking I know a thing or two about cooking. Point is, cooking is relaxing and wonderful and cooking all my favorite things together in one dish is bliss.

I've made this Tuna with Black Pepper, Artichokes, and Lemon before, a few years ago, and remembered it being a little bland. I decided to give it another go tonight and it came out positively scrumptious. The recipe suggests serving it over rice but I'm trying to cut out some starches and carbs so I just ate it on its own and it was perfect. I also added lemon juice as opposed to just lemon slices as it calls for and I think the juice really made the dish. But as most people who know me know, I can never have enough lemon.

TUNA WITH BLACK PEPPER, ARTICHOKES, AND LEMON
(Real Simple Magazine)

2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (I used a yellow onion instead and actually liked it better than the red)
3 6.5 ounce jars artichoke hearts, drained and halved (I used about a half a can of artichoke hearts and it was just perfect)
1 lemon, cut into 8 slices (and my addition: the juice of one half of a lemon)
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
4 sprigs fresh thyme (optional)
1 1/2 pounds fresh tuna, cut into cubes (I used 1 yellowfin tuna filet)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher sald
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cups rice (didn't use)

Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the artichokes, lemon, garlic, and thyme (if using). Cook until heated through, 3 more minutes. Transfer to a plate. Season the tuna with the salt and pepper. Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Cook the tuna, turning to brown all sides, to the desired doneness, about 2 minutes for medium(I know most of my restaurant friends will slap me for saying this, but I actually like tuna to be cooked through. Don't hate me, Xu!). Return the artichoke mixture to skillet and toss to combine. Serve over the rice.