Scallops with Mint Pesto and Couscous

We had dinner at Singer's house on Wednesday and she made the most delicious pan-fried scallops with mint pesto served on a bed of whole wheat couscous.

Yum.

Before I share the recipe, a word about couscous. It is a grain, typical in Middle Eastern cuisine. Traditional couscous is “semolina sprinkled with water and rolled with the hands to form small pellets, sprinkled with dry flour (to keep them separate), and then sieved.” The instant couscous we enjoy has been pre-prepared and dried and is then rehydrated with liquid…I use chicken or vegetable broth. You can add anything you’d like to couscous such as pine nuts, chopped mint, cilantro, thyme, parsley, raisins, figs, and apricots…anything to gussy up an otherwise basic side dish!

Now for the star of Wednesday’s show!

Scallops with Mint Pesto
From: Martha Stewart

Ingredients
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves (from about 2 bunches)
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 garlic clove

Directions
In a food processor, place mint, cup oil, 3 tablespoons pine nuts, lemon juice, and garlic. Process until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes; thin with water if necessary. Season with salt and pepper.

To serve this dish, place a cup or so of couscous prepared according to directions on a plate, place the scallops that have been pan seared on the bed of couscous, then top with the mint pesto and garnish pine nuts.

Elegant and so delicious!

Foodie finished a gorgeous shawl she made to supplement the inventory for the grand reopening of BEAdazzle!, the gift shop at the art center to which we all belong. It's made from a lovely pink and purple self-striping yarn. The pattern calls for knitting on a bias...starting from one point and ending at the other. Foodie found this pattern on ravelry.com.

I’m working on a project using self striping yarn too. It is a pretty substantial shawl that requires six (yes, count em, six) balls of yarn. I just started ball four. It is a straight-forward but time consuming pattern on size 8 needles. It is a gift…hopefully the recipient is not reading this post!