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Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Recipe for Seared Scallops Over Brown Rice and Veggie Salad

Since returning from our recent trip, Mr. ELEB and I have been trying to get back on a healthy eating and exercise plan.  We're doing pretty good-he's actually out for a bike ride as I am typing up this recipe and I just got back from a nice long power walk on the beach, following a twelve mile bike ride yesterday.  On the trip, we had good intentions regarding exercise-packed what we needed to work out because we knew we'd be eating most of our meals at restaurants-however, we just didn't execute!  We did get alot of walking done in NY but...

So I'm working on some nutritious, delicious meals that will fuel our exercise and help us lose those *few* pounds we both gained on the trip.  We really liked this meal.  It was quick, easy to put together, tasty, and has lots of good carbs from veggies and brown rice, and protein from the scallops.


The rice I used is a brown rice blend consisting of long grain brown rice, whole grain Wehani rice and whole grain Black Japonica rice.  I used chopped spinach, bell peppers, and mango.  Other veggies would work well too, like various combinations including asparagus, mushrooms, and zucchini.  The mango gave the salad a nice sweet touch.  I think pineapple would be good also.
I served the salad warm for dinner.  We had the left overs for lunches cold out of the fridge and also mixed in with left over asparagus soup, which was divine!

Brown rice blend
Spinach, bell peppers, and mango
Cooked rice


Completed salad


Brown Rice and Veggie Salad
Yield: 8 servings
Total time: 70 minutes (almost all is the rice cooking)
Ingredients:
2 cups whole grain brown rice blend, cooked per directions to make 4 cups
1 ½ cup chopped fresh spinach leaves
1 ½ cup chopped bell pepper, yellow and green
1 mango, finely diced, and any juice (reserve a few dice for serving)
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:
1.       Cook rice following package directions.
2.       Stir in chopped veggies, mango and any mango juice.
3.       Add salt and pepper to taste.
4.       Rest dish for 10 minutes to soften/wilt veggies.
5.       Serve topped with seared scallops.

Seared Scallops
Yield: 4 servings
Total time: 6 minutes
Ingredients:
16 large scallops, rinsed and patted dry
Salt and Pepper
1 TBSP canola oil
Method:
1.       Heat skillet over med-high heat.
2.       Season scallops with salt and pepper.
3.       Sautee scallops for 2 minutes per side.
4.       Remove and serve over salad with sprinkle of chopped mango.

Enjoy!


Printable recipe