Recipe: Scallops (or Shrimp) with Aromatic Vegetables

A super easy, healthy recipe that works with scallops, shrimp, fish, and even chicken.

I’m not independently wealthy. In fact, I still work for a living! With that in mind, I’m always looking for ways to save money. The best way to save money on food is to cook it yourself.

You don’t have to be a gourmand to cook a good meal. Here’s a super simple, healthy recipe you can use to make scallops (my favorite in this recipe), shrimp, any kind of white fleshed fish, or even chicken. It’s guaranteed to be good because it has all good ingredients.

Bonus for boaters: It’s just one pan!

Ingredients

Here’s how I made it today.

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Don’t use any other kind of oil. Why would you?
• 1-2 tablespoons butter. Use real butter.
• Equal parts aromatic vegetables. The amount you use depends on the amount of food you’re making. You want roughly two to three times as much veggies as protein. Here are the standard aromatic vegetables:
  • Onions, chopped. I had some red onions already cut up so I used them.
  • Carrots, peeled and chopped. I use real carrots, not the “baby carrots” sold in bags in supermarkets.
  • Celery, chopped. The fresher and whiter the celery, the better it will be.
• Zucchini, chopped. Optional. I threw some in because I had it already chopped and didn’t want it to go unused.
• Other veggies, chopped. Optional. You can add other vegetables you like. My advice: keep it simple.
• Lemon pepper. To taste.
• Rana Skillet Gnocchi. Optional. You could, if you prefer, make some rice or pasta and serve that with the finished dish. I had the gnocchi, I like the gnocchi, so I used the gnocchi.
• Scallops, shrimp, fish, or chicken. Again, the quantity depends on how much you want to make. 1/2 to 1/3 the amount of veggies should work. If using chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces. (The fish will likely break apart nicely when you stir.)

Preparation

I did say easy.

1. Sauté all vegetables in the olive oil and butter in a large enough skillet to accommodate all ingredients. Stir occasionally. You can cover the pan if you like to speed the cooking.
2. Season with lemon pepper (or just plain salt and pepper).
3. If you’re using the gnocchi, stir it into the mixture when the veggies are soft but not quite done. (You could also add cooked pasta at this time, but I don’t think I’d add rice.)

4. 
   Here’s what I had for dinner tonight. As you can see, I used sea scallops. I don’t see why you couldn’t use bay scallops.

   Stir in the scallops or whatever protein you’re cooking.

5. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the scallops or other protein are done.

Serve alone or over pasta or rice. Possibly with a side salad.