Fast, easy, healthy, DELICIOUS! The night I made this I was cooking all week for a catering gig and needed to be able to put dinner on the table without fuss. I heated some fettuccine foodles (my name for organic tofu shirtaki noodles) and seasoned them with sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder and made them the resting place for these gorgeous scallops, so it was not only low-carb, it was super-fast! I had some baby bok choy in the fridge that I got from the Asian market (have I mentioned I LOVE the Asian market??) so I threw them in a pan with some extra virgin olive oil for about five minutes and seasoned them with sea salt, pepper, Chinese five spice, and a dash of soy sauce at the end. Boomshakalaka. Literally done in about five minutes. So below is the recipe for the perfect scallop. The PERFECT scallop.

THE PERFECT SCALLOP

sea scallops, patted dry with a paper towel (in this case, there were 10)

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 tbs butter

sea salt

pepper

In a heavy pan (I use my cast-iron, of course!) on medium-high heat, sprinkle enough evoo to cover the bottom and add the butter. While the oil is heating, sprinkle your scallops with sea salt and pepper on both sides. When your butter is melted and your oil gives a little smoke, carefully add the scallops, making certain they do not touch. Cook for about a minute-and-a-half to two minutes on each side, depending on the size. Each scallop should have about 1/4-inch crust before turning and removing. Remove from heat and serve immediately.

NOTES: Fresh cracked black pepper is best for this recipe, but if you don't have that, regular ground pepper will work. Get that pan screaming hot before placing your scallops in the pan or else they will steam cook and you won't get that beautiful golden brown crust.