Sauteed Shrimp and Scallops

Seafood is good for you, everybody knows that. I know it because I have spent enough time on Nutrisystem and Medifast and I saw their recommendations for real life food. You can’t go wrong with seafood – lean protein, omega 3s, and low calories. I think you can even overeat a little and still remain on your dietary track. My problem with seafood is that I am not a big fan of fish. The only kind I like is Chilean sea bass, which is ridiculously expensive and fished almost to extinction. Salmons and trouts are just not cutting it for me.

Shellfish and crustaceans are a different story.

I love it all. I also enjoy raw fish in sushi – even my 7 and 9 year olds love sushi! When it comes to home cooking, I haven’t reached the level of sushi making yet, even though I’ve heard that it’s not that difficult.

But I can always sauté some mean shrimp and scallops.

Truth be told, I would prefer scallops only, but my kids are not crazy about them just yet.

We are working on it though.

This is my simple recipe of shrimp and scallops with mashed potatoes and boiled buttery corn:

Ingredients:

• 1-2 pounds of wild caught shrimp, deveined but not peeled
• Large fresh scallops
• Butter for sautéing
• 5 cloves of garlic
• ½ cup of organic heavy whipping cream
• 3 corn ears, cut in half
• ½ lemon juice
• Salt and pepper
• 4 medium potatoes
• 1 cup of organic milk
• 2 tablespoons of butter

I start with boiling potatoes in salty water for pureed creamy potatoes. They have to be peeled and cooked until soft.

Pour the water out when done and dry them a bit over medium heat. When shrimp and scallops are about ready to be served, heat a cup of milk in a microwave for a minute, put some butter in the potatoes, and whip everything until creamy with hand held mixer. I like to garnish my mashed potatoes with fresh, dried, or frozen dill.

While potatoes are cooking, start corn ears cooking as well. Simply boil them for about 10-15 minutes in lightly salted water, turn off the heat, and let them sit there until ready to serve.

Now to the main course - shrimp and scallops.

You can season them a few hours in advance, but I did it right before cooking and they came out perfect.

I use salt and Cajun seasoning for shrimp and salt with fish seasoning for scallops, which should be milder than shrimp.

Once the main ingredients are seasoned, heat up butter and minced garlic on medium heat in a frying pan.

Carefully put shrimp and sauté on one side until light pink, about a minute. Then flip them all on another side and sauté for another minute.

After you get the shrimp out, add more butter and place scallops on the frying pan.

The main thing about scallops is to not overcook them. I sauté them for less than a minute on each side, just to get them a little bit golden brown. And that’s it.

The last simple step is to make a quick sauce for scallops. Pour heavy whipping cream to a small pan or pot, squeeze lemon juice, and add some salt and pepper.

Let it simmer for a few minutes and done.

Arrange shrimp, scallops with sauce over them, mashed potatoes, and corn on a plate and serve hot. Enjoy!