Week 15: Sicilian Scallop Salad

I thought I should provide some more background as to why this challenge is important to me. As I said before I found that I was not loving cooking any more and that is a shame especially when I love food and when we have more cookbooks then your local Chapters and I always want to buy more. 

This is our stack of cookbooks. Amazing that we sometimes can't come up with something to cook for dinner.

So far I have found that I am starting to love being in the kitchen again and most of my "free" time is spent surfing the net for new recipes, ideas and watching food network shows on Youtube;-) During my travels this week I happened across the following blog http://guiltykitchen.com/ The first thing I realized is that my blog is super lame compared to this one. She has made family and food into an art form, very inspiring. I also realized that I had found yet another resource for great recipes. I will be trying some of these out in short order. Now on to this week's dish.

One of the cookbooks that we have owned for years is from the Moosewood restaurant. This week I took a crack at the Sicilian Scallop Salad. It was a simple, yet yummy salad that would be perfect for a warm summer evening but also worked for a cool, cloudy spring night. Here is what you will need

Salad
8 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of dry white wine (I used a Chardonnay)
1 lb of sea scallops, large ones, cut crosswise
Mixed greens
1 red pepper, cut into rings (I cut it into lengths)
2 oranges, peeled and sectioned (I used blood oranges)

Dressing
1 cup of fresh orange juice (again I used blood oranges)
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Chopped basil for garnish (chiffonade worked well)

Start by adding the wine and garlic to a saucepan and bringing it to a boil. Drop in the scallops and cook for about 5 mins. When the scallops are done remove them and reduce the sauce by simmering for about 10 mins. You want about a 1/4 cup left over. Set aside and cool the reduction.

Place the greens on a plate. Artfully arrange the peppers and the pieces of oranges. In a small bowl mix the orange and lemon juice with the oil. Add the reduced liquid and salt and pepper. Toss the scallops into the mixture and mix well. Ladle the scallops onto the greens and drizzle some of the dressing over the salad. Top with the basil and enjoy.

Mark's thoughts: Very nice salad. The blood oranges added a nice sweet quality which might not be for every one. I was amazed at how well the oranges and the basil went together. 

Jamie's thoughts: Liked it, wasn't super filling. Totally agree with Mark's comment about the oranges and basil going together. We will be eating this all summer;-)

Scallops and blood oranges how can you go wrong with that?