Great Grape Scallops

Here’s a light and flavorful Glorious One-Pot Meal recipe I whipped together last week from some sea scallops that were on sale at the grocery store and a bunch of purple grapes. It’s a great summer meal… and don’t forget the summer trick of cooking in a toaster oven plugged in on the porch or patio!

I’ve also been playing around with different kinds of oils in my recipes, and this time tried grapeseed oil instead of the usual canola or olive. It seemed to have a lighter touch than other oils. Try it for yourself, or just use canola oil in this recipe and it will be fine. Sesame oil might be yummy, too, here.

1 Tbsp. grapeseed oil
1 Tbsp. fresh minced ginger
3-5 garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, sliced thinly
1 cup dry multi-colored orzo
1/3 cup broth (vegetable or chicken) or water
1/2 – 3/4 lb. scallops (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cucumber, peeled or not, and cut into 1″ speers
2 cups packed spinach leaves, roughly chopped
10-12 Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
2 cups purple grapes, halved
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
2 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tsp. sugar or Agave
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 stalk lemongrass, halved and smashed

Preheat the oven to 450F. Wipe the grapeseed oil around the inside of a cast iron Dutch oven and lid.

Scatter the ginger, garlic, shallots, and orzo across the base, then add the liquid and swirl to settle into an even layer and coat all the noodles.

Separate the scallops and lay them on top of the orzo, then blanket with spinach. Toss the Brussels sprouts in, then the grapes.

In a small bowl, mix together the lime juice, rice vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, salt, and red pepper flakes, then drizzle over all.

Split the lemongrass stalk and smash with the flat of a knife to release the oils. Set it on top. Now, cover and bake for about 45 minutes, or until 3 minutes after the aroma of a fully-cooked meal escapes the oven.

This recipe is a little unusual for me because I have 2 greens — spinach and Brussels sprouts — but that was what I had in the house that evening. When this recipe appears in the next cookbook, it will likely have corn, yellow squash, or another colored vegetable in place of one of the greens to make it a more well-rounded recipe. I was avoiding bell peppers simply because I already have a recipe in the current cookbook that contains scallops and bell peppers of various colors and I wanted to do something new. Of course, you can do whatever you want when you make this recipe yourself!  🙂

Orzo is a pasta noodle shaped like rice grains. I often get mine from the bulk food bins at the health food store, but you should be able to find it in the pasta section of any grocery store.

The lemongrass gives this meal a tantalizing lemon essence that’s different from using lemon slices. I’ll be using this in other recipes, I’m sure! Enjoy!

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