I made this whole meal out of random things I found in my kitchen and it turned out delicious! Our fridge is a bit bare at the moment, but we have a fully stocked pantry and freezer.
I find that sometimes the best things come out of me staring blankly into my pantry, rather than planning out a meal. I don’t know if I’ll ever be a successful meal planner, so it’s good I excel with random ingredients.
This is a quick and easy meal — just perfect for someone who is 39 weeks pregnant and is trying desperately to get ahead on her work and thus, does not have time for complicated meals.
I feel like everyone is waiting on this baby to come with bated breath. I get a lot of “how are you?” texts, emails, and phone calls nowadays (i.e. did you happen to go into labor and forget to tell us?)
So until I have more exciting news, enjoy this simple pasta dish, Scallop, Tomato, and Feta Spaghetti with Fresh Basil. It’s not as exciting as a new cuddly baby of my very own, but it is pretty tasty.
12 large jumbo scallops (about 16 oz.)
2 large beefcake tomatoes, chopped roughly
2 Tablespoons + 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
4 oz. feta cheese
3/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
Cook whole wheat spaghetti in well salted water according to package directions.
Heat the first 2 tablespoons of oil in a large pan. Add scallops to the pan and sprinkle with salt (1/4 teaspoon), pepper (1/8 teaspoon), and garlic powder (1/4 teaspoon). Cook scallops for one minute on one side, flip and cook for an additional minute on the other side. Add tomatoes to the pan with the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle with the remaining salt (1/4 teaspoon) and garlic powder (1/4 teaspoon). Cook tomatoes and scallops for 10 minutes stirring often.
Drain pasta leaving about 1/4 cup of water in the pot with the pasta. Add the tomatoes and scallops to the pasta, as well as the cheese, and most of the basil (reserve about 1/4 cup for garnish). Toss pasta well to combine all ingredients. Plate pasta and garnish with about some of the reserved basil.