Seared Scallops with a Red Apple Balsamic-Apple Cider Glaze

I’ve had some trouble motivating myself to cook lately. Maybe it’s a post-Thanksgiving burnout. With Christmas a week away, I supposed I’d better find a way to change that.

When I have been cooking this month, I’ve been using it as a chance to experiment with some Devo olive oils & balsamic vinegars that my mom picked up for me in Branson. She got me a nice collection, consisting of red apple balsamic, white truffle oil, champagne balsamic, chipotle olive oil, jalapeno white balsamic, and harissa olive oil. I’ve used the white truffle in Devo’s recipe for asiago & white truffle mashed potatoes. I’ve also been depleting the red apple balsamic by making simple vinaigrette with extra virgin olive oil, minced garlic, and salt & pepper. This pairs wonderfully with a salad of mixed greens and crumbled gorgonzola.

I had a recipe bookmarked for scallops in an apple cider-balsamic glaze. This seemed like the perfect experiment for my red apple balsamic, especially since I have an excess of apple cider from Thanksgiving. When you are talking about seared scallops on a bed of crisp bacon, sautéed mushrooms and baby spinach, topped with a sauce of red apple balsamic, apple cider & honey, I can think of absolutely no logical reason not to try it.

I suppose you can attribute this to laziness, but I’m not going to retype the recipe here. Instead I will direct you to She Cooks, He Cleans, where I found it in the first place. This is one that I did not alter (other than using my red apple balsamic instead of regular & not having enough baby spinach), and the blogger does a great job of writing up the instructions.

This makes a fantastic scallop dish. If I tried it again, I would consider adding some sautéed chopped apples. I’ve been intrigued by the combo of scallops and fruit ever since I tried the delicious scallops with cherries recipe from a few months back.