Seared Scallops with Oven Roasted Vegetables in Beurre Blanc with Buckwheat Soba Noodles – Phew

This recipe is a combo — The Seared Scallops…. is a Cooking Light Recipe, which, as usual, I modified. It’s basically a 4 step recipe- How did I change it? I added the buckwheat soba noodles, left out the tomatoes, lemon zest and basil, added asparagus and left the shallots in the beurre blanc. I also added balsamic vinegar when searing the scallops.

I had left over uncooked soba noodles, and because they are fresh, they needed to be used. I chose to use them here, and we are so glad I did. These might just become a staple in this house. They are so much tastier and healthier than regular wheat or flour spaghetti and they handle soup, sauces, stir fry with ease. They can be served hot, cold or room temperature, can be left long or diced for a cool summer salad. Oh the possibilities! So here we go, with each portion of the recipes. One last thing. I had a tough day today fighting with Amazon to fix my kindle  amid trying to get work done for clients. So far I’ve spoken to 4 people and communicated with 3 others via email at Amazon. Their technical support staff and customer service apparently don’t talk to each other or document things, so I’ve spent about 7 1/2 hours so far repeating procedures and hearing myself talk to people who don’t listen, and still my Kindle battery is discharging much too rapidly. Anywhere, where I’m going with this, is that I was in a rush to get dinner on the table and forgot to take step-by-step photos, though I did remember as we plated. Sorry folks.

STEP 1:

• Cook the buckwheat soba noodles – add them to boiling water, cook, stirring occasionally for 4 to 5 minutes, drain over the sink in a colander and rinse with cool water. Set them aside.
• Mix 1 tbsp. oil of your choice, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper and the juice of 2 to 3 limes, making about 1/4 of dressing total. Whisk together and add to the noodles. Mix and mix occasionally until ready to serve. Serve at room temp.
• OPTIONAL: Today, since the rest of the recipe was very mild, I also added 1 tsp. of hot chili oil to the dressing. It was a great flavor combination. With each bite you got a taste of lemon and then a little heat on your tongue. It was not hot, hot, hot, but a little piquante and nice with the veggies and scallops.

STEP 2:

• Preheat the oven to 500
• Cover a large rimmed cookie sheet with foil and place on the highest shelf in the oven to preheat as well.
• Wash and cut all your veggies. Today I used: 1 green zucchini, cut into 24 pieces, 1 yellow squash, cut into 24 pieces, 1 pound asparagus, cutting the top 2/3rds into pieces, 1/2 of a large sweet onion, 1 red sweet pepper. After cutting them, I put each into a ziplock bag and added a little olive oil.
• Carefully pull the cookie sheet out of the oven, add the vegetables in sections and put back in the oven. They will take 5 to 10 minutes to cook and brown. When they come out of the oven, add salt and pepper if desired.

STEP 3:

• To make the Beurre Blanc – take one small shallot and dice/slice it up and put it into a small pot.
• Add 1/2 C dry white wine and boil the wine and shallots until it’s condensed to about 2 tbsp. Turn the heat to low
• Add 2 tbsp. of COLD sweet, unsalted butter, a small piece at a time, into the mixture. Whisk as the butter melts. Remove from the stove. You will have a velvetty, delicious topping for your scallops

STEP 4:

• Depending on the size of the scallops, cook 4 to 6 per person, making about 4oz. per person. Clean the scallops removing coral or tendon if it’s there and pat dry with paper towels.
• Heat a cast iron skillet until it is hot. Add 1 tbsp. of oil and 3 crushed garlic cloves to the pan. Also, if desired, add 1 or 2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar.
• Put the scallops into the hot pan and sear, about 1 1/2 minutes per side, or until they are the desired tenderness.

Now it’s time to put it all together. Put some of the soba noodles on the plate, add a nice mix of the veggies to the plate, top with 4 to 6 scallops and 1 tbsp. of the beurre blanc.

And finally, topped with the beurre blanc

This is a recipe that lends itself to creativity and using what’s on hand. I’m not sure I would use brussels sprouts or sweet potatoes with the scallops. I think they would overwhelm the recipe, however, they too are great oven roasted. Oven roasting vegetables will bring out the freshness and sweetness of whatever you use. The trick to oven roasting veggies is high heat, just a little oil and roasting in a single layer. If you pile them up they will steam rather than brown. They can be done earlier in the day and set aside and served at room temperature which is wonderful if you’re planning for company and you can do the roasting in advance and then just assemble dinner. Then you can get the entire meal onto the table at once, and sit down and enjoy your dinner with your guests.

Enjoy!