Spicy Scallops on Spinach

Tonight we decided to start to work toward emptying all of the frozen foods out of our freezer; it’s really out of control. We picked up a large bag of frozen scallops at Costco last week, so tonight was a great night to experiment. I looked around at new and old scallop recipes, but I really wanted to go in a different direction. Here is how it went down.

2 tbsp olive oil
2 minced cloves of garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1.5 lb scallops (10-12 large)

I heated the garlic and red pepper flakes in the olive oil over medium-high heat in my cast iron skillet. While I typically enjoy using the skillet, next time I’ll stick with a more traditional pan (the clean up was not a good time).

Once cooked down a bit, I added in the scallops. Two minutes per side, and then took off to rest.

The smell was pretty great. I was worried the garlic and spice from the pepper flakes would be too overwhelming, but fortunately it was just right for me. A lingering heat in the mouth that slowly settled with water and time. If you’re not a big fan of spice, I would recommend limiting it to 1/2 tsp. I placed these over a bed of spinach, and dinner was served. I’ll happily do this again with the rest of the scallops…just in a non-stick pan.