Recipe: Grilled Sea Scallops with Avocado and Apple Salad

This salad is the perfect dish to serve up during the warmer weather. My wife loves grilled scallops and this dish is always a hit at home. Enjoy with a fresh pitcher of sangria and arepas. Okay, let’s get to work.

Recipe Serves 4

• 12 Large scallops, side muscles trimmed, halved horizontally

• Garlic Oil (Recipe below)

• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 Avocado, pitted, peeled, and diced into bite-size chunks

• 1 Granny Smith apple, seeded and sliced into segments

• 1 Yellow or Red Tomato seeded and minced

• 8 Red grape tomatoes, halved

• 2 Large handfuls baby arugula

• Mustard Vinaigrette (recipe below) according to taste

Thread the scallops onto 4 metal skewers and coat the scallops lightly with garlic oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Light a fire in a charcoal or gas grill. Grill until the scallops are just opaque in the center, occasionally brushing with more garlic oil, about 3 minutes per side. Set aside

In a large bowl, combine the diced avocado, apple, tomatoes, and baby arugula. Add the Mustard Vinigrette and toss lightly. Serve immediately on either a platter or individual plates, topped with the grilled scallops.

Garlic Oil

• 1/2 garlic glove, roasted, minced (it’s like a paste, so you should cut and/or mash the garlic to break it into smaller pieces for mixing with the oil.)

• 1/2 cup olive oil

• Juice of 1 small lime

Combine the three ingredients in a bowl and whisk until well blended. Keep for up to 3 weeks in the refrigerator.

Mustard Vinaigrette

• 1 small shallot, minced

• 3 tablespoons Pommery mustard

• 1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine the shallot and mustard and mix well. Add the vinegar and mix well. Slowly whisk in the oil. Mix until well blended. Season with salt and pepper. Use immediately or keep refrigerated for up o 2 weeks.

Recipe: Black Bean, Corn + Shrimp Quesadillas

My guests at Sonora- and at home-eat these as soon as the platter appears! The beauty of these quesadillas is that you can play around with the filling depending on the availability of ingredients and your taste. Quesadillas can be conveniently prepared for unexpected guests (make sure you keep some ice-cold Coronas in the fridge). For parties, I serve quesadillas on a platter and decorate them with stripes of guacamole and sour cream, which I keep in handy, plastic squirt bottles. Alright, let's get to it!

Recipe serves 12

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 6 medium shrimp, shelled, deveined, and cut into 1/4 inch dice

• 1 1/2 cups fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels

• 2 cups cooked black beans

• 3 plum tomatoes, diced

• 1 cup chicken stock or canned low-salt chicken broth

• 3 green onions, including light green parts, thinly sliced

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

• six 8-inch diameter flour tortillas

• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a medium sauté pan or skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat and sauté the shrimp for about 3 minutes, or until pink on both sides. Add the corn, beans, and tomatoes. Stir in the stock or broth, green onions, and cumin. Stir and set aside.

Arrange the flour tortillas on a work surface. Divide the cheese evenly over them. Add the shrimp mixture and fold the tortillas into a half-moon shape. Place them on a baking sheet, and bake for 5-7 minutes, or until the cheese melts. Be careful! You don't want the tortillas to get too crispy.

Cut the quesadillas in half, place them on a platter and serve immediately.

Quarantine Leftover Nachos

Nachos are always a solid choice…especially when you’re stuck at home. Feel free to add meat or different beans to this recipe. Whatever is in your fridge that would be a great topping on a nacho…go for it.

Leftover Nachos

4 handfuls of Tortilla chips

1.5 cup of canned cooked black beans

2 cups of Salsita Recipe (See below)

2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese

1.5 cup of Mexican shredded cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350

2. Grab a baking sheet or an oven safe plate and grease so nachos do not stick

3. Lay out half of the tortilla chips evenly on pan

4. Layer half amount of shredded cheese, salsita and black beans on top of chips

5. Layer the second half of chips onto of cheese and top it off with remaining black beans, salsita and cheese (including parmesan cheese)

Tomato & Onion salsita (makes 4 cups)

4 plum tomatoes chopped

1/2 red onion chopped

1 glove garlic minced

3 tablespoons of avocado oil or olive oil

1 Lime juiced

1 medium diced jalapeño chopped

1 teaspoon of chopped cilantro

2 hard-boiled eggs chopped with salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss. Set aside 2 cups for your nachos and store the rest in an airtight container.

Recipe: Midnight Sandwich

Don't be deceived by the name- you can enjoy this sandwich at any time of the day! The version of the delightful Cuban sandwich is ideal Super Bowl party fare. I like to make platters of these sandwiches to serve with Yuca Fries at afternoon family parties. Accompany with ice-cold Aguilas (Colombian Beer).

Makes 8 Sandwiches; Serves 8

• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• Eight 8-inch-long pieces baguette, halved lengthwise
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 16 thin slices roast pork
• 16 thin slices smoked ham
• 8 thin slices white cheddar cheese
• 2 large dill pickles, thinly sliced
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 8 teaspoons unsalted butter at room temperature 

Heat a sandwich press or preheat the oven to 350°F. Spread mustard on the cut side of the bread tops, and mayonnaise on the cut-side bottoms. On the mayonnaise-coated side of each sandwich, layer 2 pieces each roast pork, ham and cheddar cheese. Add some pickle slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, then put the top on each sandwich. Butter the outside of each sandwich on a baking pan and place on a heavy weight, such as a brick wrapped in aluminum foil or a cast-iron skillet, on top of the sandwiches (try to distribute the weight evenly). Bake until the cheese melts, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.