GINGER-CHILI SCALLOPS

Our local Harris Teeter had beautiful wild-caught sea scallops for $10.99/lb this week, and they were nice enough to email me a recipe for the scallops with my weekly fresh-catch newsletter. Can you believe they even included a short video showing me how to make this dish? I love Harris Teeter, and I love scallops, so I couldn't wait to try this. MyThai friend, Sara, had given me a bottle of sweet chili sauce, so I was ready. This recipe is fast and very good. How I think it could be better: serve the scallops over grits or rice, and just drizzle the sauce lightly over top. There's enough sauce in this halved recipe to adequately take care of 1 lb. of scallops. Since the sauce is sweet -- very sweet -- drizzling it would be nicer than covering the scallops in it. Guy's not a big scallop fan, but he liked these. I made a few changes to the recipe: I added a pinch of ground red pepper and added salt and pepper to the flour instead of seasoning the scallops after they browned, as the recipe suggested. Other than that, I followed it closely.

Ginger-Chili Scallops
Rating 9 out of 10
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 lb. sea scallops
1-1/2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
2 oz. Thai sweet chili sauce
1/3 tsp. honey or brown sugar
pinch of ground red pepper
1 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

In a small heavy skillet, heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil over medium heat. Measure the flour, salt and pepper into a resealable sandwich bag and mix to distribute ingredients. Add scallops and shake well to coat scallops in flour mixture. Add floured scallops to hot oil and cook about 2 minutes, or till nicely browned on underside.
Turn scallops over and cook another 2 minutes, then add remaining ingredients. Reduce heat and cover; cook about 3 minutes, or till scallops are tender and cooked through. Serve scallops over rice or grits, if desired, and lightly drizzle some of the sauce over top. Serves 2.