Seared Scallops with Crushed Mint Peas over Oven-Baked Potatoes

After last night's disappointment, thought I'd share another meal we tried this week that was fabulous! It comes from a cookbook called The GL Diet Made Simple.  Read more about the GL (glycemic load) diet and its cousin the GI (glycemic index) diet here.

I was a little trepidatious going into this one, squishy peas and all. But it's a winner all the way around (well, almost... make sure you watch the video at the bottom).  This recipes serves 2. Double or triple as needed.

Ingredients

• 4 large fresh scallops (or 8 small ones... though we use more)
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp. unsalted butter
• 6 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1.25 cups frozen peas
• 2/3 cup vegetable stock
• 2 tbsp. freshly chopped mint leaves 
• one small baking potato for each person, sliced sort of thinly

Directions
Heat over to 400 degrees.  Line baking dish with potato slices and sprinkle with 1 tbsp. olive oil. Mix to fully coat the potatoes. Cook 20 minutes or until done.

Wash the scallops and pat dry on paper towels (or cloth towels if, like us, you don't use paper towels). Turn them in the oil and season with pepper.  Set aside while you prepare the peas.

Melt butter in saucepan, add the scallions and soften for 1-2 minutes over medium heat. Add the peas and stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Stir the mint through, then pulse in a food processor until roughly chopped (this is the squishy part. And one note: be sure your processor can handle hot liquid. The plastic seal on mine melted.)  Return to the pan, season with pepper and keep warm.

Put a small non-stick frying pan over high heat. When hot, add the scallops and sear 1-2 minutes on each side. Don't cook them too long or they'll come out tough.  Remove from pan.  Take potatoes out of oven.

Load a bowl full of potatoes, topped with peas, topped with scallops.

So, so, so, so good!  Jason, Olivia and I loved it.

Hannah, not so much...