last week's trader joes trip ended up being a slightly adventurous one. most of my grocery shopping is pretty typical these days. we keep staples on hand in the pantry (the typical pastas, rices, breads), the freezer (frozen veggies, pizzas, some pierogies, waffles) and the fridge (dressings, jarred sauces, eggs, cheeses). then i'll replenish the produce and any other stuff we finish or eat up quickly every week (hello box of nutty bars almost gone, and pretty much i ate the entire thing in 3 days). isn't this one of the best food porn pics you've ever seen? yummy,anyway, trader joes always has weird and cool foodstuffs. and sometimes i go standard and other days i go wild and buy new stuff that i'd normally be too scared to purchase. like one time i got the dark chocolate covered edamame and was very pleasantly surprised that a) they tasted great, b) they didnt't remind me of sushi and c) they packed in a ton of protein and antioxidants. then last week i bought a bag of frozen scallops.
this was bold because: a) they were sort of pricey at $6.99 a bag (read: i am a cheapo!) and b) i have yet to make any sort of fish even though i love it because i find it too scary to cook. needless to say, this bag of scallops has been sitting in the freezer taunting me for almost two weeks. "nanananana you don't know how to make me!" i actually started keeping the coffee in the fridge to avoid the shroud of shame and humiliation the scallops were casting upon my day. till today that is when i ventured out of my comfort zone into the world of scallops.
first these babies are frozen and you have to defrost them. i put them in sealed container submerged in water for about 4 hours in the fridge. at that point the ice was fully off the scallops and they were soft to the touch. i patted them dry with some paper towels and seasoned them up with my usual suspects.
the color really was rather unappetizing don't you think?
then i warmed a medium skillet with some cooking spray and a teaspoon of garlic oil. i added to that half a shallot and about 1/2 teaspoon of minced garlic.
as the shallots and garlic softened up, i heated some water to a boil for my pasta.
the pasta takes a good 10 minutes to cook because its that barilla plus spaghetti, more whole wheat and protein=more cooking time. anyway when your pasta is about halfway done cooking, add your scallops to the pan (and try not to forget to take a picture of them cooking as i did). while they cook add the juice of a third of a lemon, 2 tablespoons of chicken broth and 2 tablespoons of cooking liquid from your pasta (great thickening agent)
keep it cooking, drain your pasta and add right to the saute pan. realize you have no veggies in this meal and rescue the last of the mixed greens.
the heat from the pasta and "sauce" will wilt the greens from your spring mix in no time. mix together with tongs, sprinkling some grated cheese and extra red pepper flake to taste.
this made for quite a filling lunch, kept me full at least 4 hours. and besides that the flavors felt very decadent for a weekday lunch at home. seemed more like a weekend lunch in new york when the last thing i was thinking about was price or calories. apparently there is a way to keep things tasting sinful....
Comments
Post a Comment