My daughter was home from college and wanted bacon wrapped scallops for her Christmas break last supper. We also had a Blue Apron meal for coconut curry lentils & kale so we combined both for this fabulous dish of bacon wrapped scallops served over coconut curry lentils and kale.
The bacon came from a monthly club given to my wife from her Vassar College friends for her birthday. What a great gift idea!
Making Blue Apron Go Further
Now the Blue Apron meal would have been plenty for my wife and myself, but adding broiled scallops wrapped in bacon was over the top. While my daughter Maddie was home we added ingredients to other Blue Apron meals to stretch them out for three and it has worked out perfectly.
Sometimes it would be adding rice to meal or adding a protein to one of their vegetarian dishes. If all else fails, you can always serve a side salad with a loaf of Italian bread.
The Vassar Girls
Scallops Over Coconut Curry Lentils & Kale Recipe
Ingredients
- ½ cup Jasmine rice
- ½ cup green lentils
- 13½ oz light coconut milk canned
- 1 lime
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 teaspoons curry powder
- ½ cup nonfat Greek yougurt plain
- ¼ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoons roasted peanuts
- 4 sea scallops
- 4 slices bacon
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 cups water divided
Instructions
Prep the Ingredients
- Wash and dry all the fresh produce. It's important to do these days to make sure you are removing any pesticides.
- Using a microplane, zester, or peeler, zest the lime to end up with 1 teaspoon of zest. Try to avoid the white pith.
- Cut the lime into quarters and reserve.
- Peel the onion and medium dice it.
- Peel the garlic cloves and finely chop them.
- Here comes the fun part, a job I like to give to my daughter - cut the leaves of the kale from the stems and roughly chop up the leaves. Toss the stems.
- Chop up the peanuts.
Cook the Lentils
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium pot over medium high heat. When hot, add the onion and garlic, then season with salt and pepper. Cook for 4 minutes.
- Add the curry powder, lentils and red pepper flakes. If you don't like it too hot, add less of the pepper flakes or exclude them all together. Stir and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the coconut milk and 1½ cups of water. Bring to boil and cook for 17 minutes and be sure to give it a stir every once in a while. You want the lentils to be slightly thickened. When done, turn down the heat some.
Make the Lime Rice
- Heat a medium size pot over medium heat and add the rice, a pinch of salt and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil and once boiling, reduce the heat to low.
- Cover the pan and cook for 14 minutes. At this time the rice will have absorbed all the water and should be tender.
- Turn off the heat and stir in the lime zest. you now have lime rice.
Cook the Kale
- Add the chopped kale to the pot of cooked lentils and ½ cup of water. Continue cooking on medium heat for 8 minutes or until the kale is wilted and the lentils are finished cooking and tender. If the lentils need more time, add a little more water and cook until tender.
- Remove the pot from heat and squeeze the juice from 2 lime wedges into the pot, stir and then taste for seasonings. Season with salt and/or pepper if needed.
Prepare the Broiled Scallops
- Raise you oven rack high enough so you can broil the scallops about 2 or 3 inches from the heat. Turn on the broiler.
- Wrap the scallops in a piece of bacon and use a toothpick to hold them together. You may or may not need a whole slice of bacon to wrap the scallops. It will depend on the slice of bacon and the size of the scallops.
- Season the scallops with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Drizzle them with a little olive oil.
- Cook the scallops under the broiler for 5 to 7 minutes, turn them and cook for an additional 5 to 7 minutes until both the scallops and bacon are cooked. Don't let them burn.
Plating and Serving
- Spoon some lime rice into a bowl, top with the lentils and kale and top with a dollop of yogurt.
- Add two of the broiled scallops to each bowl and sprinkle the chopped peanuts on top of the dish.
- Place a lime wedge to the side of each bowl and serve.
Leave a Reply