Recipe for Scallops in Butter Sauce on Quinoa

How I often pick seafood is by what looks good at the fish market. I create my recipes and ideas from the ingredients rather than forcing my shopping list to bend to the will of my recipes. This method proves itself over and over when selecting fresh fish. This week I found some really nice bay scallops that were very reasonably priced at my neighborhood New Season's.

I really like the taste and texture of fresh scallops. They really have a lot of inherent flavor that I like to accentuate in my scallop recipes. The trick to getting the texture right is to cook them with high heat, and not for too long.
This recipe was surprisingly fast to make. For once, I actually made the whole meal, including prep work, in the time it takes to cook the quinoa - about 20 minutes. Start your quinoa fist then prep the other ingredients, and cook. The quinoa can sit for quite a while in the pot if necessary after it's done, but the scallops are really quick to make and should be served right away.

I used the braising liquid that I had leftover from my braised rabbit recipe as well as some water for the liquid in the quinoa, which gave it a nice rich flavor. I will assume that you don't have something similar on hand. This recipe serves two.

Quinoa

Bring to a boil in a medium saucepan with a tight-fitting lid:

1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
3/4 cup white wine
1 cup quinoa

Reduce the heat and allow the liquid to simmer, covered, for 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.

Scallops

Heat in a in a medium pan:

3 Tbsp olive oil

add in small batches, sauteeing as you go:

a handful of spinach or other greens, chopped
about 10 sprigs' worth of cilantro, stems removed
salt to taste

when the greens are just becoming limp, throw in the hot pan:

1/2 cup bay scallops

Cook, stirring or agitating often, for 1 minute. Add:

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Cook just until the tomatoes are hot, about another minute. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the burner if necessary. Add to the pan and gently stir to coat the vegetables and scallops:

2 Tbsp butter

When the butter has just melted, serve the scallops over the quinoa.

For more dinner ideas, or to join the What's for Dinner? Wednesday blog carnival, visit Linda at the Gluten-free Homemaker.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Looks good, I'll have to save this one for date night! I'm sure the kids would complain. I've never eaten scallops but with your details I think I would be willing to try to get the texture just right! Thanks
Jessie
Linda said…
I'm with you on creating recipes from ingredients. I like to see what's on sale and what looks good at the store. This recipe sounds great. I really like scallops. Serving it with quinoa sounds perfect.
Carrie said…
oh my... that looks absolutely DELICIOUS!! I love how you used the quinoa in this recipe! I will HAVE to try this! Your quinoa looks JUST lke couscous here!! yum!! thanks so much for sharing and for commenting on my blog! Appreciate it!!
Brian said…
This look delicious. My wife doesn't care for seafood much, so I tend not to eat it very often. Maybe, I'll have to try this sometime when she out of town. Thanks for the recipe, it looks great.

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