Culinary Therapy

Sometimes, you just have one of those days. It’s a nasty, rainy Monday, everything is taking twice as long as it reasonably should, nothing is working on the first try, and to boot, they closed three blocks of the road you live on for maintenance, so traffic is horrific. Sometimes you come home from the longest day you’ve had in months just to get dumped by the significant other that you live with. Sometimes it’s the bombshell that you’ll have to move across the country again.

It’s the bad days, the stressful days, which make me love cooking. Food is in my control. I can make it pretty, I can make it delicious, and I make it just for me. Even if I am cooking for other people, it’s really about me and making me feel better. Sometimes I’ll storm in the door and bee-line for the kitchen, throwing food into a skillet and just daring it to turn out poorly so I have a reason to scream.

This is what we call Culinary Therapy. It can be me cooking for myself, someone cooking for me, or me cooking for someone else, but the point is cooking for comfort. When I try my hand at Culinary Therapy, fancier is better. I came up with this recipe after a particularly long day at work, and it has become one of my favorite cook-to-impress dishes. The sweet and savory flavor combinations are absolutely perfect and compliment the scallops so well.

Pan seared scallops with berry-gorgonzola glaze and magic purple onions

9-10 large sea scallops
2 cups baby spinach, washed
3-4 tbs of olive oil
Glaze:
¼ cup fresh blackberries, washed and quartered
¼ cup fresh strawberries, washed and quartered
1-2 stalks fresh arugula, chopped
¼ cup orange juice
1 cinnamon stick
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
½ cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

Start with the onions (see the recipe in yesterday’s blog.)

While the onions are cooking, combine berries, arugula, orange juice, cinnamon and red pepper in shallow skillet. Simmer over medium heat until orange juice has created thick syrup, about 15-20 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in cheese while still hot.

Heat 1 tbs of olive oil in medium skillet until VERY hot. Salt and pepper scallops, then place in skillet. Cook around 2-3 minutes per side.

Toss spinach in 2-3 tbs of olive oil. Arrange on plate. Layer scallops, berry-gorgonzola glaze, and onions. Serve hot.

Enjoy!