Spring Scallop Salad- Super Easy!

Caron’s kitchen tested! This spring salad is super fast, and super easy for a week night meal. Tom and I whipped up this healthy seafood concoction in less than 30 minutes. Tom was in charge of searing the scallops, as I am not always very confident about my scallop chef skills…

(adapted from Sunset Magazine April 2013)

The original recipe was created for a 4-person dinner salad, we adapted it for 2, so that we would not have any left over scallops.

Shopping List:

8 large sea scallops

1 ½ Tablespoons Grape Seed Oil

¼ - ½ tsp. kosher salt, divided

1 Meyer Lemon zest or ½ Tbsp. regular lemon zest

1 ½ Tbsp. Meyer lemon juice or 1 Tbsp. regular lemon juice

½ Tbsp. olive oil

¾ cup thawed frozen green peas (the petite kind!)

1 quart mixed fresh Spring greens

4-6 slices of prosciutto, torn into pieces

1. Pat scallops dry. Heat a large frying pan (NOT non-stick) over high heat until a drop of water sizzles when dropped into pan.  Add grape seed oil (it can be heated at higher temps than other types of oil) then the scallops; season with kosher salt. Saute’ scallops without moving them until browned and easily turned.  Should be about 3 minutes per side.  Transfer to a plate.
2. Whisk lemon zest, juice and olive oil with ¼ tsp. kosher salt.
3. Thaw peas if needed
4. Toss Spring salad greens, peas and torn prosciutto with half of the prepared lemon dressing.  Arrange on plates and place seared scallops on top; drizzle with the remaining dressing, and finish with a hint of sea salt to taste.
5. Serve immediately.

Seashell Etched Wine Tumblers +
Ice Bucket for your cold Chardonnay

Hint: Having all of the ingredients ready to go and organized helps, as the scallops sear more quickly

than you think.

A fresh loaf of French bread and a lovely Chardonnay completes your gourmet dinner.  Enjoy!

Coastal Fish Flatware can be found on our site.  We love ours!

  

Easy Elegant Scallops

Bacon, scallops, sea salt, and garlic - how can you go wrong?

Scallops can be tricky if you are not careful, they need to be fresh, large and cooked only until they are done or they can be more than a little "rubbery" (is that a word?)

Bacon Wrapped Scallops are incredibly easy, and can be presented so elegantly, your friends will know that you are a graduated gourmet chef!



Ingredients:
Large Sea Scallops - plan on 2 or 3 per person
Thick Sliced Bacon
Sea Salt (or Kosher Salt)
Fresh Ground Pepper
Chopped Garlic

1. Liberally salt and pepper your scallops, then "sprinkle" on your chopped garlic

2. Use 1 bacon slice per scallop and wrap them completely - use a skewer to secure

3. Place under broiler until bacon is crispy and done, it's just enough time for the scallops to also be done without getting overcooked.

A suggestion for you - serving these scallops with a lovely balsamic reduction sauce would be a beautiful final touch. So easy to do; simply cook your favorite balsamic vinegar over high heat 12 -15 minutes,until it becomes syrupy and bubbles begin to form.

Or you can cheat like me and use prepared balsamic salad dressing!  I served our scallops with an avocado, heirloom tomato salad, dusted with fresh rosemary Asiago cheese and a Tuscan balsamic dressing.  Our Pinot Noir is a favorite from the Oregon Willamette Valley, Domaine Drouhin.

Yes, we eat and drink well around here.

Cheers to a Happy Weekend!  We are headed up to Sonoma County to see our friends and celebrate a birthday.  I have heard a rumor that there might be wine tasting involved....

Scallop Skillet inspired by Chef Staffan Terje and Coastal Living Magazine!

Scallop Skillet with Bacon, Endamame, Basil and Creamy Grits (we skipped the grits!) 

So... since I have had all of this time  (ha ha ha) to be creative,  I am teaching myself to cook all over again.  And, you all will be happy to know that I am not half bad at it either!
.
I saved the March Issue of Coastal Living, just for the scallop recipes.  I have not really ever cooked anything with scallops, thought I would give it a whirl, as we are trying to eat healthy and eat more seafood.  If this turns out bad, oh well, lesson learned!  Thank goodness Tom is not a picky eater.....

Step one: Rip the recipe out of the magazine and head over to the local Safeway seafood counter for some advice.
Step two: Refer to the recipe at least 20 times before leaving the store and still forget stuff...

What you will need: 
5 slices of bacon (I used thick sliced)
2 lbs of sea scallops (the big ones)
3/4 tsp salt - divided
1/4 tsp black pepper - divided
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup chopped sweet onion
2 garlic cloves
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup frozen edamame (soybean)
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup grape tomatoes (I sliced mine in half, but you don't have to)
1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced

P.S. this recipe serves 8, I cut it in half for just us.  Still too much food, but I didn't want to ruin anything by trying to cut it even more.

Here's my best advice - follow the recipe exactly. Especially when cooking the scallops, they can easily be overcooked and become little rubber balls if you are not careful. I don't recommend a non-stick pan, it doesn't seem to work right. Also, have everything chopped, diced, measured and within reach so that you don't accidentally overcook any of this delish dish.

1. Cook bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat until crisp, remove bacon, and drain on paper towels, reserving the drippings in the pan. Crumble bacon and set aside.

2. Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper. Heat bacon drippings over medium heat until hot. Add scallops, 3 minutes on each side, then remove from the pan.

3. Add butter to the pan. Add onion and garlic, saute', stirring often, 2 minutes. Stir in bell pepper and edamame; cook 2 minutes or until crisp-tender, Add wine, and cook 30 seconds, stirring to loosen particles from bottom of skillet.  Add bacon, salt, pepper and the grape tomatoes; cook stirring constantly for 5 minutes or until tomatoes soften.

4. Return scallops to the pan; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated. Remove from heat and stir in the fresh basil.

Coastal Living served this with creamy grits, we simply made some nice linguine (saving calories) and arranged the linguine with the scallops on top.  I think it would be wonderful with couscous too.  We served it with some sugar snaps and mushrooms from our local farmer's market....

(sorry-difficult to get the photo just right!)

And while I am on the subject... we have a lot of pretty "scallop" merchandise on our site! Don't forget to check out all of the wonderful serving pieces - 

New on the site today!

Recycled Alabaster Scallop Shell Serving Bowl - 100% recycled with a swirling white water pattern

More food safe recycled glass - I love these small scallop bowls for collecting treasures too! 

How about this elegant serving piece? Scallop chip and dip all in one! Beautiful and manufactured by another one of my favorite companies concerned about sustainability - 

Big, bold bright - and absolutely perfect for this spring! Our Lime Green and Caribbean Blue Scallop pillow...

Thanks again for stopping by - have a great week and I will see you soon at the beach!