Roasted Scallops with Eggplant Puree & Salsa Verde

Eggplant and Roasted Garlic Puree

• 1 head garlic
• 3 – 4  eggplants
• kosher salt
• 1/8 cup olive oil
• cracked pepper
• ¼ cup sliced green onions

Grape Tomato and Mini Cucumber Salsa Verde

• 1 – 7 ounce can Salsa Verde
• 2  Mini Cucumbers
• 2 cups  Grape Tomatoes
• ½ cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Scallops

• 2 – 3 Scallops per person
• Canola oil
• 2 – 3 Sweet Bell Peppers (red), finely diced
• sea salt
• fresh lemon
• cilantro leaves

Eggplant and Roasted Garlic Puree

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
2. Wrap garlic in tin foil and roast for 30 – 45 minutes
3. Cut eggplants in quarters length-wise
4. Season the eggplant with kosher salt (it draws out the bitterness in large eggplants), olive oil and cracked pepper and roast in the same oven for 30 minutes. You are looking for caramelized edges (golden brown) and tender flesh
5. Squeeze the golden soft roasted garlic out of its skin
6. Scrape the flesh of the  eggplants off their skins
7. Purée the garlic and the eggplant together in a Cuisinart with 1/8 cup of olive oil, salt and pepper and the sliced green onions

Grape Tomato and Mini Cucumber Salsa Verde

1. Cut the  Mini Cucumbers in half length-wise and then slice thinly on the bias
2. Cut the  Grape Tomatoes in half
3. Mix the  Mini Cucumbers with the Grape Tomatoes and the Salsa Verde
4. Garnish with cilantro

Scallops

1. Pan sear the scallops in a hot pan in Canola oil. Cook for 2 minutes per side.
2. Garnish with dehydrated Sweet Bell Peppers (red) mixed with sea salt.
3. In a warm oven, (200 degrees) over night, lay out Sweet Bell Peppers until dry.
4. Puree with equal parts coarse sea salt.