Cold Seafood Salad

We had a couple leftover scallops and decided to add some shrimp and make a cold summer salad.  The scallops were grilled quickly on a hot Weber fire.  The shrimp were boiled until pink. Make a citrus vinaigrette by whisking together 1/4C olive oil, 2T fresh lemon juice and 1/2t Dijon mustard.  Add salt and pepper to taste and toss the vinaigrette with the seafood.  We think this would work well with leftover lobster or crab as well.  Serve on a bed of lettuce with some sliced tomatoes and cucumbers garnished with fresh basil.

Bacon Wrapped Scallops with Aleppo Pepper Butter

We had lots of fresh produce and pasta from our garden and the local farmers market which we decided to pair with some bacon wrapped scallops...very simple.  The scallops were seasoned with salt and pepper and wrapped with bacon.  They were skewered and cooked on the Weber for 3 min on a side.  One trick is to pre-cook the bacon in the microwave for about 30 seconds to make it pliable and start the cooking process so the bacon gets crispy on the grill.  Melt about 3T butter in the microwave and add 1t ground Aleppo pepper (adjust for you own degree of heat).  You could use any form for pepper you wished, cayenne, Tabasco....or none.  Drizzle the butter on the scallops just before serving.  The tomatoes were from our garden and were topped with some fresh basil.  The beans and fresh pasta from the farmers market.  Easy and delicious summer meal.

Paella with Pasta (Fideua`)

We adapted this recipe from many which toast the pasta as the first step.  We used fresh pasta and didn't want to toast it.  Start by sauteing 1/4C each diced onion and celery.  Add 2 cloves minced garlic.  When the garlic is toasted, add one diced boneless, skinless chicken breast and some sliced spicy sausage.  Cook gently until the chicken is cooked through.  At the same time, add the fresh pasta to boiling water for no more than a minute.  Add 8 oz. of clam broth to the chicken/sausage. When it reaches a boil add seafood ( we used scallops, shrimp and haddock along with a drained can of chopped clams).  Add the drained pasta to the mix and continue to simmer until most of the juice is absorbed by the pasta.  Add a chopped tomato and some green herb (parsley or thyme perhaps)  Serve with a crusty bread and a chilled white or rose wine.