Excited to begin a new week by sharing this zesty seafood recipe for scallops and asparagus with you. One of the nice things about shelter in place cooking is the time and care we take to really plan meals for each week. When menu planning, I put together a mix of some tried and true dinner recipes as well as some bucket list dinner recipes that I have yet to try. Scallops and asparagus is one of my favorite tried and true dinner recipes. The contrast of the almost crisp citrusy asparagus coupled with the soft caramelization on the scallops is a pleasant bite every time. I like working with scallops because I think the meat has a nice texture to it. Be sure to do a little research and buy the best quality scallops in your area because no matter how you dress or serve scallops they have a forward flavor that’s wonderful so you just want to be sure that you have a really good quality scallop. So here we go, a great dinner recipe to add to your menu this week, scallops and asparagus.

Scallops + Asparagus Ingredients

• 8-10 scallops. Clean well, rinsing off all the sand. Using your hand, remove and discard the muscle. Dry well on a paper towel.

• 1 bunch of asparagus.  Trim off the woody stems and cut into inch pieces. In a medium pot, bring salted water to a boil.  Add the asparagus for one minute.  Remove and shock in a bowl of ice water.

• 1/4 cup high heat oil (avocado oil or grapeseed oil)

• 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter

• 1 large clove garlic, minced

• the juice and zest of 1 lemon

• 1/2 cup white wine 

• 1 teaspoon corn starch

• 1 Tablespoon fresh chopped parsley

• salt and pepper to taste

Scallops + Asparagus Instructions

• On heat oil on high heat in a large sauté pan.

• Season the scallops with salt and pepper on both sides.

• When the oil is smoking, carefully place scallops in the hot oil. Note, it is especially important that your scallops are dried well. It will help achieve caramelization and reduce popping when placed in the oil.

• As the scallops brown or caramelize, turn down heat. Make sure there is enough oil, adding more if necessary. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons butter to pan to help finish caramelization. Flip scallops over for only a few seconds to get a little more cooked.

• Remove scallops from the pan and set aside.

• Using the same sauté pan on medium heat, add garlic. Cook until toasty brown.

• Next, add wine. Allow it to bubble up and using a rubber spatula, scrap the pan of all caramelized bits.

• Add lemon juice and lemon zest to sauté pan.

• Add 1/4 cup of water mixed with 1 teaspoon of cornstarch to reduce wine.

• Swirl in 1 and 1/2 Tablespoons of butter.

• Season with salt and pepper. Taste. You can add a pinch of sugar if you want to balance out the zesty citrus from the lemon.

• Cook until slightly thickened. Add scallops and asparagus, toss in the sauce. There should be should be some excess liquid.

• When heated, plate scallops and asparagus on a serving dish and finish with chopped parsley