Espresso Salt Seared Scallop with Lime Grapefruit Dressing Salad

I'm just into seafood recently because I intook too much meat - all kind of meat. Don't get me wrong. I like pork belly, good steak, chicken tender and stuff. However, my body can't handle it very well when I intake too much. Do you have the same problem? Rotating meatless and seafood meal occasionally is good for your digestion and health!

Okay, enough of talking seafood. I chose to cook with scallops because 1) I want it. 2) I haven't cooked them for a while and I don't care if the hubs isn't a big fan. 3) I can't resist seared scallops with brown Brit. 4) I have espresso salt that I'd like to experiment with. 5) All of the above. I think I have enough reasons to justify with the hubs (wink).

I used Alaskan scallops in this recipe. I also wanted to incorporate espresso salt, herbs, grapefruit, and lime for the dressing. This dressing went well with seafood-any kind of seafood, baby arugula, and fennel. The espresso salt was redeemed at Marx Foods for the credit I won on the Reishi mushroom challenge. It has an interesting flavor. Well yeah, salt and espresso in one bite.

I marinaded scallops with lime juice for half hour to get more flavor, pat dry, and seasoned with espresso salt and pepper. Seared them in a hot pan to get a good color and texture. For the dressing, I sneaked white truffle oil in it; just to have a what-is-that-taste in the background.

You can plate as appetizer - a bite size

Espresso Salt Seared Scallop with Lime Grapefruit Dressing Salad

Yield: 4 entrees or 8 appetizers

Ingredients

For dressing:
2 limes, juiced
1/4 cup grapefruit juice

1 tsp espresso salt or more
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs minced parsley
1 Tbs minced mint
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 tsp garlic chili sauce
1 Tbs truffle oil (or you can leave this out and drizzle on the salad as a finish-touch)
Olive oil

For scallops:

1 lb fresh Alaskan scallops
1 lime, juiced
1 Tbs Walnut oil
Espresso salt and black pepper

For salad:

1 package baby arugula
2 grapefruits, segmented
1 cup or more chopped celery
Cherry tomatoes, halved
1 fennel, trimmed, thinly sliced
1/4 cup, toasted Walnut or pine nuts (optional)

Espresso salt I got. I have a long way to go with this container!

Directions:

• Marinade scallops in lime juice that you get from 1 lime for half hour. After half hour, pat dry. Season with espresso salt and pepper.
• While waiting for scallops to get marinaded, in a small bowl, mix parsley, mint, tarragon, 2 limes juice, grapefruit juice, 1 tsp espresso salt, pepper, garlic chili sauce, truffle oil (if using), and olive oil. I didn't put much olive oil but you can adjust to your preference.
• In a hot pan, add 1 Tbs of Walnut oil; swirl to coat. Sear scallops until brown. When scallops are done, they will be easy to flip. If they're still stick to the pan, they're not done yet. DO NOT overcook scallops otherwise they will become rubbery.
• Mix all the green -arugula, tomatoes, fennel, celery, grapefruit, and nuts (if using). Pour the dressing over and mix well. Be careful not to over mix otherwise arugula will get bruised.
• Plate it and top with seared scallop(s). Drizzle remaining dressing on a scallop and finish with truffle oil.

The dressing

Another idea of plating