I present to you the very original Red Food on Valentine’s Day recipe.

My favorite part of winter isn’t Christmas or Thanksgiving. Or the fact that it’s not 112 degrees out every day. Okay, maybe that is my favorite part of winter… but the bounty of winter citrus surely runs an extremely close second.

Our dwarf citrus trees worked hard this winter with a nice little crop of pink lemons, Meyer lemons, normal lemons, and key limes. When I mentioned to The Foodie Groom that I wanted a blood orange tree, he made a face. You know, that face.

The one that at first says, “You’re kidding me,” and then slowly morphs into the “You’re lucky we’re talking about citrus trees and not cats” face. I love that face 🙂

Blood oranges are one of my favorite citrus. Full disclosure, any citrus that I can make into a margarita is one of my favorite citrus 🙂 The juice is a strikingly beautiful dark red and the flavors are light and fresh, perfect for complimenting mild seafood like scallops and tilapia.

The dish is beautiful, simple, and comes together really quickly. Serve it with a salad for a light lunch or dinner along side a bottle of white wine.

Or even better, a margarita!

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Seared Scallops with Blood Orange Salsa

Seared scallops topped with a blood orange salsa, winter citrus and seafood come together for a light, fresh, and quick dinner.

Ingredients

• 3 Tbsp Olive oil, divided
• 1 blood orange
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped red onion
• 2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Salt
• Pepper
• 12 large scallops
• 2 Tbsp sugar

Instructions

1. Take the zest of one blood orange and place it in a bowl.
2. Set a strainer over the bowl and peel and segment the orange. Squeeze the juice from the leftover membranes into the bowl.
3. Cut the segments into chunks and add to the bowl.
4. Add the red onion, cilantro, lemon juice, and lightly toss with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
5. Heat remaining oil on medium high.
6. Pat scallops dry. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Spread sugar on a small plate and dip one side of each scallop into the sugar before placing it into the saute pan.
7. Cook for 3 minutes on each side, until the scallops are nicely seared. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes, until the scallops opaque almost all the way through (cut one with a knife to check).
8. Remove from the pan and serve topped with salsa.

Notes

Yields: 3 servings

Source: Salsa from Confections of a Foodie Bride, Scallops adapted from Big Bowl of Love

Estimated time: 20 minutes

Nutritional Information
Calories: 156 | Fat: 5.1g | Fiber 2.6g | Protein 10.6g | Carbs 17.8g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 4