Peggy Lampman's Wednesday dinnerFeed: Grilled Balsamic Scallops with Garden Salad

Avoid allowing your lettuces to bolt: Not desirable in a salad!

I'm a big fan of bitter greens (such as frisée, chicories, escarole and radicchio) but the bitter flavor of bolted lettuces is not pleasant to my palate.

I tasted the greens and they're not as bad as I thought they'd be--a sweet balsamic vinaigrette further mellows the flavor. Waste not, want not -- so bolted lettuce dictates dinner tonight.

Lettuces love a good freshly made vinaigrette and for basic salad dressings I generally use approximately 1 part acid to 3 parts oil, kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. After that, I throw out the rule book and all is fair game.

Shallot, garlic or onion; walnut, hazelnut or olive oil; lemon juice, balsamic or sherry vinegar; honey or agave; curry or basil ... let your palate, and other items you are serving, dictate your vinaigrette.

I thawed some sea scallops I purchased at a seafood sale at Whole Foods last month. I made a vinaigrette that will serve double-duty as a light marinade for the salad. Of course other tasty salad additions, such as cucumbers, tomatoes and avocado, would be lovely tossed with the lettuce.

Yield: 2-4 servings (12 large grilled scallops) Time: 25 minutes Cost: apx. $16 (using ad item scallops)

Ingredients

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon minced garlic 12 large (apx. 1 pound) sea scallops 10 cups salad greens (leaf lettuce, arugula, mesclun, frisée or romaine -- preferably not bolted!) 4 large basil leaves, tightly rolled together then sliced into thin ribbons (chiffonade) Nasturtium flowers for garnish, optional

Directions

1. If using bamboo skewers, soak 4 skewers in water 30 minutes. Whisk together balsamic vinegar, oil and garlic. Add kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. 2. Toss scallops with 2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette and let rest 20 minutes, tossing once or twice. 3. Prepare a gas or charcoal grill to medium high heat. 4. Place 3 scallops on each of the skewers. Grill until scallops are cooked to desired level of doneness, about 3-5 minutes on each side. (I prefer scallops slightly underdone.) 5. Wash lettuce and spin dry. Tear into bite-size pieces. Toss with remaining dressing. 6. Divide and mound dressed lettuce on two large salad plates. Top each salad with two skewers of scallops. Garnish with basil chiffonade, nasturtiums, if using, and serve.