weeknight dinner: seared scallops with grapefruit sauce

subtitle: an i-deserve-it-and-oh-by-the-way-scallops-are-on-sale-at-whole-foods dinner

i love scallops. they're one of my favorite foods and yet i don't eat them too often, which makes them extra special. so after a couple of demanding weeks and eggs for dinner one too many nights, i decided i needed to make myself a special dinner. just my luck that scallops were on sale. say no more.

my vision (who knows why) was scallops with some sort of grapefruit component. so i did a few web searches to see what i could find. the most appealing sounding method of preparation was from eating well. since little goes better with grapefruit than avocado (just try to challenge me on this one), i decide to plop these suckers onto a simple salad. voila. actually, i admit this was the very first time i have made myself scallops and it was brilliant. i was impressed by my deliciously fancy (but easy!) dish.


seared scallops with grapefruit sauce
adapted from eating well

• 1/2-3/4 lb scallops
• 2 small grapefruits
• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
  
• 1 shallot, thinly sliced
  
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• 2 tablespoons chicken stock
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 2 tablespoons chopped mint
  
• avocado
• lettuce

• zest part of the grapefruit, lime and lemon to yield about a tablespoon of zest; or stop whenever you get tired
  
• segment the grapefruit and reserve all juice
• add lemon and lime juice to the grapefruit juice to yield 1/2 cup of citrus juice
• sear the scallops: first make sure they are dry by patting with a paper towel then season with salt and pepper. heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a pan over medium high heat and when the oil is hot (don't jump ahead here!) add the scallops to the pan. brown on each side; this only takes a few minutes. remove from the pan and set aside.
• add another tablespoon of oil to the pan, then the shallots. cook the shallots until soft.
• deglaze the pan: add chicken stock, wine, citrus juice and zest to the pan, and stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the bottom to release the scallop bits. allow this mixture to come to a boil and then reduce for a few minutes.
• add the mint and honey to the pan, stir, and add the scallops for a minute to warm.
• serve scallops on a bed of lettuce with avocado and grapefruit slices.
• serves 2