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new year’s eve dinner

January 1, 2014
the main event, the underwear diet
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This year, since I was home alone with nowhere to go (my own choice, I swear!), I treated myself to a scallop dinner. Since I’ve been eating like a pig queen lately, I made it clean and healthy, using this recipe from Food & Wine, Scallops with Blood Orange, Fennel, and Pistachios.

1 medium bulb fennel
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 navel orange
1/3 cup kalamata olives, halved
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
Scallops (I splurged on dry sea scallops, so I only bought three; this recipe could accommodate about eight large scallops)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 sprig thyme
1 1/2 Tbsp capers
1 1/2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds, lightly toasted

1. Halve the fennel lengthwise and thinly slice on a mandolin. Place on a large platter and drizzle with olive oil.
2. Remove skin and white pith from the orange and thinly slice into rounds. Layer on top of the fennel.
3. Scatter olives on top of the salad.
4. Sprinkle scallops with a little bit of salt and pepper (go easy on the salt, because the olives and capers provide most of the seasoning).
5. Heat a saute pan over high heat. Add butter and as soon as it melts, place scallops in the pan.
6. Add thyme sprig to the pan and sear the scallops, about 1 minute on the first side, 30 seconds on the flip side. Using a spoon, baste the scallops with the thyme-infused butter while they cook.
7. Remove the scallops from the pan and place directly on top of the salad.
8. Add capers to the pan and fry in the butter just until the first one pops open, about 30 seconds. Spoon on top of the salad.
9. Sprinkle the platter with pumpkin seeds and serve!

This is a great healthy entree or first course. Feel free to omit the scallops and make the salad alone; it would be a great side dish, or a perfect component of a big brunch spread.

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citrus and avocado salad

March 24, 2013
appeteaser, somethin' on the side, sweet thang, the underwear diet
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It’s only during the past few years that I’ve developed an affinity for bitterness. Now it’s a taste that I crave, namely in the form of alcohol–IPAs, Campari and sodas, Negronis–but also in grapefruit. Since winter is the time for citrus, I suppose I’m pushing it by posting this during the first days of spring. But, what the hell:

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Serves 4, as a starter for brunch (serves 2 as a main course for breakfast)

2 grapefruits
2 oranges
1 small jicama
3 tbsp fresh mint, chopped
1 lime
Pinch salt
Pinch sugar (a drizzle of agave also works very nicely here)
1 avocado

1. Supreme 1 of the grapefruits and 1 of the oranges: cut off the tops and bottoms of the fruit. Cut off the skin, making sure to remove all of the white. Cut in between the membrane to create “wedges” of fruit.
2. Slice the remaining grapefruit and orange: cut off the tops and bottoms of the fruit. Cut off the skin, making sure to remove all of the white. Cut the fruit into slices.
3. Julienne the jicama: peel, thinly slice, and cut into matchsticks.
4. Gently toss the citrus fruits with the jicama, juice of 1/2 a lime, salt and sugar.
5. Slice the avocado: Cut into quarters, remove the pit, peel away the skin and slice into 1/4-inch pieces. Squeeze juice of the other 1/2 of the lime over the slices to prevent browning.
6. Serve the avocado slices on the side. You can arrange the slices on the top of the salad, which would make for a beautiful presentation, but I like the bit of interaction your guests have by finishing their own plates.