What do you do if you love mushrooms, craving for seafood and don’t mind a refreshing salad? Here’s what I came up with:

Mushrooms & Scallop Salad

It servers 4 people.

• Half a bag (5OZ) washed baby spinach
• Half a bag (5OZ) washed arugula
• 16 scallops
• 2 cups sliced crimini mushrooms
• 2 cups sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 2 cups chopped sliced oyster mushrooms
• 2 cups chopped Shimeji mushrooms
• 2 cups chopped small chantrelle mushrooms
• 1/2 a butter stick
• 2 spoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 glove of garlic, minced
• 1 cup pitted olives
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Preparing the scallops

Most scallops in the stores come in a liquid solution. So you’ll need to drain and rinse them thoroughly first but before searing them in the pan, make sure they are completely dry. You can pat them with paper towels before you season them.

Preparing the mushrooms

To clean fresh mushrooms, the best way is using a clean damp cloth, paper towel or a soft mushroom brush and wiping them one at a time. If you soak them in water or thoroughly rinse them, they will absorb the water like a sponge, and your saute will be soggy.

1. In a large pan, heat half of the butter and 1 spoon of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat, and add the minced garlic
2. After a minute of sautéing the garlic, add the mushrooms with with the sea salt, pepper, rosemary, thyme and sauté until golden
3. Take them off the stove, add the balsamic vinegar, stir gently and let them cool down
4. Heat the rest of the butter and vegetable oil in a clean nonstick pan and let it sizzle
5. Place the scallops flat-side down in the hot pan but not too close to each other otherwise the pan won’t stay hot enough for a good sear
6. Once there, don’t move them around let them be for a minute or 2
7. After a couple of minutes, take a peek underneath and if they’re golden flip them around
8. When all the scallops are seared and ready, place a layer of spinach on each plate, add a layer of arugula, a good amount of mushrooms, then 4 scallops and a few olives on the top will make it perfect

Ah, forgot an important ingredient…a nice glass of white wine. I suggest a cool refreshing glass of Pinot Grigio. 😉