Two super-tasty scallop dishes

by Monika Bartyzel, Posted Aug 19th 2008 @ 6:00PM

After disliking scallops through most of my childhood, I found them on my birthday dinner plate a few years ago. My friend had whipped up a warm scallop salad for my big day, and it was insanely delicious. Now, of course, I love the things. They're very tasty, pretty versatile, and are ridiculously simple to prepare.

Over the last few weeks, I wanted to use up the last of the big scallops hanging out in my freezer. First, I made the above -- a warm salad to get back to the roots of my scallop love. The key is to have a creamy sauce/dressing, and vegetables that are warm and almost limp (but still holding some firmness). This one had tomatoes, peppers, green beans, basil, and feta.

Hit the jump for the second dish.

Last night, I was determined to use the rest of the bag, and also use up some of my zucchini. This meal, while really simple, was insanely good. Fresh spinach was thrown into a pan with some oil, chopped garlic and shallots were scattered on top and cooked down until limp. Slow roasted tomatoes were added and the mix was put aside. Meanwhile, strips of zucchini were cut and salted. After 20 minutes or so, the strips were patted dry, breaded, and fried in one pan, while the scallops sizzled in another.

The final plating: rice,spinach/tomato mixture, scallops, and breaded zucchini. So, so, so tasty.

Filed Under: Ingredients
Tags: breaded zucchini, BreadedZucchini, rice, salads, scallops, shellfish, soup, vegetables