Grilled Scallops, Spicy Chickpea Salad, and Caramelized Beet with Arugula Salad

Imagine my shock when I saw a sale for scallops in Safeway for a pack(12) of these large scallops for just $6. That pretty much guaranteed that we'd be dining on big, juicy scallops for dinner. Anyway, I scoured the food network site for a good recipe, and found this one: Cumin Grilled Scallops. It even had a nifty chickpea salad side dish. Loved it!! And as for an appetizer, I found this amazing Beet and Goat Cheese Arugula Salad. Perfect, because beets are in season.

Here were my modifications:

Scallops

-substituted green onions for chives

-added one grilled red pepper for color

-I didn't care for the tahini vinaigrette, so I made a Parsley Walnut Pesto instead

-grind some lemon juice, italian parsley, olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, and walnuts together in food processor for pesto

All in all, it was a really healthy meal, not to mention colorful.

Spicy Grilled Mahimahi with Chile Lime Risotto

This meal was inspired by a recent visit to Roy's, one of my favorite Hawaiian Fusion restaurants. I ended up taking Raquel for a night out there, because she's actually never sampled that genre of cuisine. And she LOVED it, especially their yummy drinks. Anyway, I happened to find mahimahi on sale that weekend, and couldn't resist recreating a gourmet meal for 2, for just $15. Also, she wanted to get in on the cooking too. So, she ended up making the tasty appetizer/salad in the second photo. I'm so proud of her.

Grilled Mahimahi

-mahi mahi filets

-hawaiian sea salt, pepper

-ancho chili powder

-avocado slices

-extra virgin olive oil

Season filets with oil, salt, pepper, and chili. Heat grill to high. Grill for about 4 minutes, flesh side down first. Then grill on the other skin side on medium-high for approximately 4 more minutes. Garnish with avocado slices.

Chile Lime Risotto

-1/2 cup arborio rice

-2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, heated

-1 serrano chile, chopped

-1/2 lime (juiced)

-lime zest from 1 lime

-half an onion, diced

-3 cloves of garlic, minced

-extra virgin olive oil

Heat small pot with olive oil to medium heat. Saute the garlic, onion, and chile until onions are translucent (about a minute or two). Toss in and coat rice grains with mix for a minute (this also slightly toasts the rice). Lower the heat to medium-low. Add in the chicken stock in thirds, while stirring often. Only add more chicken stock, once the rice has absorbed all of the liquid that was previously added. It will be done after 15-20 minutes, and should have a creamy, fluffy consistency. Stir in the lime zest and juice right before serving.

Pork Chops in a Fennel Sauce, and Farro Salad with Grilled Eggplants

I'm always on the lookout for a healthy pork chop or pork tenderloin recipe. Mainly, because I love my pork, but pork chops that are smothered in some kind of gravy isn't always good when you're training. Anyway, I found this delightfuly fresh recipe from Giada de Laurentis: Pork Chops with Fennel, which seemed to pair well with Bobby Flay's Farro Salad with Grilled Eggplant. Personally, I liked the flavors of the fennel sauce and the succulent, juicy pork. But, I probably won't make it again because it turns out that Raquel isn't a fan of fennel or capers (we figured it out that night). Oh well.