Sea Scallops With Mushrooms And Spinach

You can’t tell by looking at it, but this is an ultimate veggie-lovers’ recipe. Sure, the scallops go on top, but the real heart of the dish is the richness of the sautéed mushrooms and spinach. After cooking them until they’re just tender, you’ll strain out the liquid and blend it into a mild sauce that intensifies the savory umami flavor of the vegetables without making the recipe too heavy or overpowering. Generous use of ghee adds some healthy fat, and a pinch of nutmeg grated into the sauce rounds out the flavor with just a little warmth.

For the mushrooms in this dish, there is no particular type you have to use. Each kind of mushroom will bring its own unique flavor to the dish; to get the freshest flavor, see what you can find in season, go for your favorite variety, or even try a blend. There’s no wrong choice as long as you end up with something tasty.

This is already a really quick dish to make; to keep it simple, you’ll want to get your scallops already shelled. Scallop season is now (November through early spring), so you should be able to get them fresh from the sea and as delicious as they’ll ever be. In theory, you could also use the frozen ones, but they’re just not quite the same, and there’s no reason to settle when you have the fresh available. It’s time to enjoy them while they’re here, and take advantage of all the great health benefits of fresh seafood in such a delicious way.

Sea Scallops With Mushrooms And Spinach Recipe

SERVES: 2 PREP: 10 min. COOK: 10 min.

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Ingredients

• 6 good-sized sea scallops, shelled and cleaned;
• 5 oz. mushrooms, sliced;
• 6 oz. spinach, washed and stems trimmed;
• Fresh nutmeg, for grating;
• 3 tbsp. of ghee;
• 2 tsp. coconut oil;
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste;

Preparation

1. Melt 1 tbsp. of ghee in a skillet placed over a medium-high heat.
2. Once the ghee is warm and slightly sizzling, add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook for a minute.
3. Add the spinach and cook for another minute.
4. Drain the juices from the pan and strain the spinach into a bowl using a colander or a sieve. Keep the juices in a separate bowl.
5. Set the spinach and mushrooms aside, but keep the skillet handy.
6. In another skillet, heat up the coconut oil over a medium-high and add the scallops.
7. Sauté the scallops for a few of minutes without touching them; then add 1 tbsp. of ghee.
8. Flip the scallops over, season to taste with salt and pepper, baste them with the oil from the pan, and let them cook for another minute or two.
9. Bring the juices from the spinach and mushrooms back to the pan you used for the vegetables and add the remaining ghee. Over a medium heat, whisk everything together, and season to taste with salt, pepper, and a fresh grating of nutmeg.
10. Arrange the scallops on top of the vegetables and pour some of the sauce on top.