Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines, and Basil

French Fridays with Dorie – Haiku

Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines, and Basil

Make some lime dressing
Prepare corn and tomatoes
Then sear some scallops

What is a coulis?
A fancy word for puree
This one has basil

Cook a nectarine?
You ask the question, but no!
It really tastes good.

Three, four, five, or more…
How many scallops to eat?
I will eat them all

Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines, and Basil

Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines, and Basil

As far as I’m concerned the best reason to cook scallops at home (as opposed to ordering them at restaurants) is that you can eat more than the usual piddly amount most restaurants will plate for you.  I get it that these are expensive delicacies but I am usually found wanting for more after my plate is done.

My adaptation here provides for actually cooking the corn.  It must be another of her madcap Parisian proclivities, using raw corn, but it is something I don’t prefer.  Even when I’m in Paris.  I also reduced the number of servings since I was cooking for one tonight.   Scallops are expensive even when you are cooking them at home!

Even so, what should have been enough for four provided nicely for two: myself last night, and my lunch today.  Finally enough scallops for dinner!

Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines, and BasilAnother Haiki French Fridays with Dorie Post

Serving Size: 4 but really only 2. One if you are me

Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines, and BasilAnother Haiki French Fridays with Dorie Post

Adapted from “Around My French Table” by Dorie Greenspan

This is what you will need:

    For the lime dressing:
  • Zest of one lime
  • 3 Tablespoons of fresh lime juice
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • 3 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • For the basil coulis:
  • 1/3 cup coursely chopped fresh basil
  • 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
  • For the Salad:
  • 2 ripe but firm nectarines, halved and pitted
  • 12 sea scallops, patted dry, side muscles removed if not already
  • sea salt and pepper
  • 2 ears corn, husked and kernels cut from cob
  • 18 cherry tomatoes
  • extra basil leaves, cut chiffonade

This is how you make it:

  1. To make the dressing put all dressing ingredients in a mason jar, close the lid, and shake vigorously.
  2. Set aside until you are ready to assemble the salad.
  3. Put the basil, olive oil, and lime juice in a small processor or blender and process until smooth.
  4. Heat a heavy iron pan over a high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil or just enough to cover the bottom of the pan.
  5. Reduce heat to medium and set the nectarines cut side down in the pan and grill for 3 minutes or until lightly browned.
  6. Remove with a spatula, set aside, and keep warm.
  7. Add just a little more oil to the pan and add the corn kernels and stir with wooden spoon until just heated through.
  8. Remove all the kernels to a bowl, add two tablespoons of the lime dressing to the corn and set aside.
  9. Cut the tomatoes in half and set aside until you assemble the salad.
  10. While pan is still on a medium high heat sear the scallops for 1 1/2 minutes on each side, lightly seasoning with salt and pepper when turned.
  11. Remove them from the pan and keep warm.
  12. To serve the salad spoon corn on the center of a plate and top with the scallops and tomatoes.
  13. Spoon lime dressing over the scallops and dot with the basil coulis.
  14. Add a nectarine half to the plate.

Notes

The original recipe can be found here

https://sisboomblog.com/warm-scallop-salad-with-corn-nectarines-and-basil/

Warm Scallop Salad with Corn, Nectarines, and Basil

About Trevor Kensey

I don't know what “Sis. Boom. [blog!]" means either. But, if a post makes even a small 'boom' in your day, I would be happy. Please don't call me a "foodie", or even a food blogger. I prefer "food raconteur" thank you very much.
Each bite tells a story...

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  1. Wait a minute…two posts in a row? And both posted on Friday? WTG! I won’t get a chance to make this one till next week, and after seeing your photos, the sooner the better…and I may have to make the whole batch even though I’ll be the only one willing to eat it! Looks fantastic.

  2. Yay, another post!
    Cannot get enough Trevor
    Love my Friday fix

    You don’t like raw corn?
    I happen to love the stuff
    Hope I don’t have worms!

    Lovely plating here
    You are a scallop glutton!
    But then, so am I

  3. Wow, Trevor, shows how much I pay attention – we grilled the corn – I totally missed the raw part – LOL!

    In any case, your salad looks wonderful. Have a great weekend!

  4. Looks delicious, as always, Trevor. I really enjoyed the raw corn, but just saw a recipe by Ina Garten sauteeing the fresh corn in butter with a little rosemary…that sounded incredible and would probably work well here. Love the haikus! Haiku? Haikus?…

  5. I’ll be honest with you. I used canned corn in my salad after Dorie’s use of them in her corn pancakes. Great looking salad!

  6. Corn that is so fresh
    needs little embellishing
    I will eat it raw

    Scallops I must cook
    I also don’t like to share
    Must treat oneself well

    Serving for one
    That’s the way it should be done
    It makes downtime fun.

  7. I cooked the corn, too – I would have had a rebellion on my hands at the dining table, if I hadn’t! I wish I had your plating skills, Trevor – your salad looks beautiful.

  8. happy to see you on Friday!! your plating makes me swoon for more! great job!!

  9. Trevor, you are cook and are charming. I want to hang out with you. Come on coulis, you know what it means? The same thing that all French words mean.
    Hope you got your fill of scallops.

  10. If scallops could talk, the word would go out to gather at your house where they could “feel the love” because they certainly cannot feel it at chez moi. Long ago I had scallop food poisoning and that sorta puts you off that particular seafood forever. That’s too bad for me but means there’s extra for everyone else. Just happy that you enjoyed this recipe and that you got to keep every morsel for yourself. Yes, while I know Haiku is a every-person-can-write-this type of verse, you’ve got the knack. Yours makes me laugh PS – I also got deathly sick on Sloe Gin so you may have my allotment of that also, Trevor.

  11. Great post and lovely salad! Yeah, didn’t get the raw corn but I did it. Next time I’ll cook it:)

  12. Your plating is gorgeous, what great photos. I didn’t have the patience to dot the coulis nearly as nicely as you did.

  13. Delicious looking salad, perfect as usual. I cooked my corn also, even though it came from
    the farm I still cannot eat it raw.

  14. hi Trevor…i could eat them all!…in one sitting. fabulous post as always

  15. Wee pear tomatoes
    Melt my heart, they are so cute.
    One lovely salad

    Great post Trevor! I’m still a little rusty at haiku but I’m trying. :)I’m sitting at work clapping out the syllables so I’m sure everyone here thinks I’m crazy!

  16. Wrote three verse haiku.
    My device did not process.
    Must now recompose.

    Scallop dish for one.
    Some things okay not to share.
    Not greedy. Just smart.

  17. Agreed on the preparing scallops at home – you can also be in control of the quality. I just love the flavour combinations here, there would be something different in every bite!

  18. Your haiku poems each wek are killing me – love them! This salad looks devine. I didn’t mind the raw corn – I thought I must have misread the recipe at first, but no, Dorie said to use the corn fresh off the cob. I found it surprisingly tasty.

  19. That basil coulis,
    My new favorite recipe.
    Tops all with summer.

  20. I hate that not enough scallops feeling I get eating out too. You are all gold chains and gravy here and I am inspired! Hope you are having a blast in the motherland and learning lots of Greek 🙂

  21. Where are you my friend?
    I haven’t seen your face here
    in a long, long time.
    GREG

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