This dinner comes together pretty quickly for a easy mid week dinner. It features one of my favorite proteins, scallops.
Scallops are a healthy lean source of protein. They contain omega 3 fatty acids which are a known anti-inflammatory. This means for us it can help with high blood pressure, age related degenerative eye disease, arthritis, dementia and help deter certain cancers. Omega 3’s also aids our cells in membrane structure and helps keep our brain healthy. (Richards, L. 2022). There is also a lot of zinc in scallops which helps with memory and balancing your hormones.
Each serving of scallops fulfills your daily requirement of B 12, which is also associated with healthy brain function (WeMD, 2022). Could this be the new brain food? Scallops are low in cholesterol and considered one of the safest seafood to eat in terms of mercury levels. Even pregnant women can enjoy scallops a couple times a week (Richards, L.).
This dinner is a nutritional powerhouse full of vitamins and minerals from the zucchini, rainbow chard and mushrooms and lean nutrient dense scallops.
I love this dinner because it pulls together so quickly. Scallops quick in a mere 6 minutes. The most time consuming step in this meal is waiting for the water to boil in order to cook your soba noodles!
Ingredients
1 8 oz box mushrooms, I used shiitake
2 small julienned zucchini strips
1 diced shallot
1 sliced leek
1 bunch of chard
2-3 cloves mined garlic
25-30 defrosted scallops, -you can adjust to the amount of people. 5-6 large scallops is considered 1 serving
1 package soba noodles
1 jar san-j thai peanut sauce, -in the effort to keep this simple pre-made sauce was used
2-4 T sesame oil
1/3 c peanut butter, -optional
1/3 can coconut milk, -optional
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
1)
Dice all of your vegetables up, they shrink a lot after cooking.
2)
Heat your pan up with a little sesame oil, when the oil becomes thinner and spreads around the pan easily it is ready. Add your vegetables. Saute over medium-low heat moving the vegetables around with a spatula. You can add salt and pepper here.
3)
While your vegetables are cooking you can take a minute to fill a pot of water for your soba noodles. Bring to a boil.
4)
Once your vegetables are tender remove them from the pan into a separate bowl and set aside.
5)
Your water should be boiling for the soba noodles. You can add them now. Make sure you stir them after adding them to the pot so the noodles do not stick together when the cook. Check the package for cook times as they may vary. They usually cook around 10 minutes.
6)
Next, using the same pan you cooked your vegetables in add two tablespoons of sesame oil. Once hot, add the scallops. move them around the pana little to ensure they do not burn. After 3 minutes use tongs and turn the scallops over. 3 minutes later they should be slightly browned on both sides and ready to eat!
7)
Add your vegetables back to the pan
8)
Drain your soba noodles when they are ready. Place in the same pan.
9)
If you like spicy you can add the peanut sauce directly to your pan. I typically pour 1/3 of the bottle and in a bowl and dilute it with 1/3 of a can of coconut milk and 1/3 cup of peanut butter then whisk it all together. If your peanut butter is too thick you can put the ingredients in the microwave all together for 20- 30 seconds to soften it up.
