Here’s a mystery green. Can anyone tell me what it is? I’m still not sure, but it doesn’t matter if you practice intuitive cooking without a recipe.
Left over from the farmers market, several bunches of these were gifted to me by a friend. Neither of us recognized it, but I thought I had seen something similar in the Chinese vegetables section before. After doing some internet research, I thought it might be water spinach, but when I cut the ends, the stems weren’t hollow as described online. Hmm…smelling them didn’t yield a clue, so I tasted a raw leaf. It suggested to me something between a radish sprout and watercress. They would have worked well in a salad, but I decided to cook them. Cooking without a recipe, what do you think they would pair well with?
I had defrosted some sea scallops along with some shrimp stock for dinner. Imagining these greens would complement them, I put a pot of water on to boil for some pasta while I chopped some tomato, onion and garlic.
Tips On Cooking Scallops
After blotting my scallops with a paper towel, I coated them in grapeseed oil and sprinkled with salt before placing them one by one into a hot skillet. Turn them over one by one with tongs after a minute or so and cook on the other side for another minute. They should release easily from the pan if you have seared them properly. Don’t overcook or they will get tough. Put finished scallops on a preheated plate while you prepare the sauce.
A Simple Sauce
Splashing a little of the shrimp stock into the skillet to deglaze the pan, I incorporated the brown goodness left from the scallops before proceeding. Then I added some butter because such a low-fat meal deserves it, don’t you think?
Follow up with the onions and garlic. Yes, you can cook them at the same time. Why do recipes often tell you to cook the onion first? Because the pieces are bigger than minced garlic and if you want to cook the onions long enough to get some color on them, you risk scorching the garlic if you add it too early. In this case, I wasn’t looking for the onions to become golden. I just wanted to give them a head start before adding the rest of the stock to the skillet to simmer with some chopped tomatoes. Greens went in at the end to wilt. A little more fresh tomato on top to serve.
What did I do with the rest of those greens? Sautéed them with mushrooms and served with salmon and mahi mahi the next evening. The sauce is Greek yogurt and mayonnaise flavored with garlic, ginger, wasabi and soy sauce. I love leafy greens. All kinds…even if I don’t know their names. Thank you, Mystery Green.
What are your favorite greens? Which ones haven’t you tried?
Want more ideas for scallops? Read Scrumptious Sea Scallops next.
Sooooo. Goooood.