Succulent Scallops...

The motivation behind this dinner was a picture from another nestie's blog. Saw it, wanted it, made it last night! This was so easy to make and it had a really great flavor...a subtle sweetness almost (some of which came from my choice of wine to use in it, I'm sure). Really good, nonetheless. I planned to serve it with some orzo and a small salad but I got a bit of a late start and then realized I didn't have any orzo. So, I whipped up some pasta noodles...threw in some butter, garlic and parmesan and then topped with the scallops. To serve over pasta, you need a bit more of the sauce that the scallops are cooked in though and it didn't quite make enough for that. I think these would be great with wild rice (didn't want to wait 50 mins for the rice to cook). As you can tell, it wasn't the best planned meal ever. Oh well, Mike didn't get home to eat until10 p.m from his flag football game so I really wasn't worried about it because I knew he would be starving and would eat whatever there was. Enough rambling, here is the recipe with some of my changes (mainly due to only having certain things on hand). I got the original from the Sing for Your Supper blog.

Scallops Provencal

1 lb of fresh bay or sea scallops (I used a 1/2 lb of sea scallops)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

All-purpose flour, for dredging

4 tbsp of butter (I used Smart Balance Light)

1/2 cup of chopped shallots (2 large) (I used 1 large)

1 garlic clove, minced (I used 2)

1/4 cup of chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves (I used dried)

1/3 cup of dry white wine (I used 1/4 cup of Riesling and 1/8 cup of white wine vinegar)

1 lemon, cut in 1/2 (I omitted because I didn't have one)

Sprinkle scallops with salt and pepper, toss with flour, and shake off the excess.

In a very large saute pan, heat 2 tbsp of the butter over high heat until sizzling and add the scallops in one layer. Lower the heat to medium and allow the scallops to brown lightly on one side without moving them. Then turn and brown lightly on the other side. This should only take 3-4 minutes. Add the rest of the butter to the pan with the scallops, then add the shallots, garlic and parsley and saute for 2 more minutes, tossing the scallops with the seasoning. Add the white wine (and vinegar if you use it), cook for one minute. I let it simmer for just a bit longer, stirring slowly. If you have lemon, squeeze the lemon on the scallops and serve hot.