Needed - Dog Whisperer - Portland Area

A dog whisperer...Where are you???  Are you out there???  I could really use one of those right about now.  One would think that after fireworks ceased 24 hours ago, E.V. would calm down and come out of hiding.  Much to my dismay, she continues to remain under the bed.  Not even to be enticed by various bones purchased specifically for her.  I won't lie, but there was one very brief moment when I was graced with her presence....and food was wasn't even readily available...so I just KNOW it meant something!!

"This is the FIRST and LAST anyone will see of me for today!" 
Typical 14 year old, that's for sure!!  Next thing I know she'll want a cell phone and a learner's permit! 
They grow up so fast!!

I certainly hope all of my two fans are sitting down for this announcement.  Tonight, the meal in which I will present, is actually devoid of chicken AND beef.  I really went out on a limb.  Hahaha.  Just kidding!  Seriously though.  In a perfect world I would have either every day of the week.  Chicken mostly to eat the delicious crispy skin.  If they sold that in bags as they do pork rinds, I'd be in front of the line!  You could certainly count me in...when something is THAT good, fat and cholesterol are a distant memory!  But I digress..  We should get back to focusing on my meal, which doesn't have chicken or beef...but you already KNEW THAT!!

Drumroll please.......this evening.....the Sunny Day Cafe (hahaha...just kidding and only close family members will appreciate that reference) is pleased to present....TADA!...one of the finest marine molluscs to grace the ocean....SCALLOPS!!  Yes, I said it out loud.  While a member of the oyster family, they are best seared, as opposed to being served raw, like oysters.   However, one cannot beat a great raw oyster, especially with some spicy cocktail sauce or a cucumber mignonete (SouthPark, downtown Portland...is THE BEST)!!  Again, I digress.  This seems to be an on-going issue.  Isn't there a pill or something I could take for that??!!??  I'd be more than willing! :-)  So, when I decided to splurge on scallops, I had to find some comparable sides to off-set the $3.15 I paid for three scallops to keep within my affordable food budget.  This was a tremendous opportunity to utilize the leftover vegetables wasting away in the fridge, in addition to the risotto container collecting dust in my pantry.  Again, I will be honest. It's not really a pantry, but a cupboard in my kitchen.  I just feel more extravagant and luxurious using that fancy term...so, for the sake of this post, I have a pantry.  No cupboards, just a pantry :-)   I love, love, love my pantry!

Again, I'm way off track...please help me focus, people.  PLEASE.  If you have the medication necessary to accelerate this whole focusing process...I'll provide my address, without hesitation, and even contribute towards the postage!  ahhaha.  I will begin with the two components of the meal that were less than $1.00, saving the "expensive" scallops for last.  I do not wish to diminsh the cost of the scallops by using quotes.  One would tend to belive that they were, in fact, not expensive, due to the quotes.  While they were't in the double-digit category, they were a tad pricey in my configuration of food budgeting.  But sometimes we just have to throw caution into the wind!  I had a ton of leftover veggies in the fridge, unbeknownst to them, their last journey in life was to be the star in my risotto primavera.

Squash, broccolini, peas, carrots, baby bellas tossed in olive oil and broiled just a few minutes to create a beautiful, charred exterior, yet retain the vitamins.

Here is the final product of the risotto primavera.

I have absolutely zero idea how it turned out sooooo weird.  I tried and tried to adjust with my camera stuff...it still looked orange.  Regardless, when I added the vegetables I also added a little parmesan and cream cheese...to give it the primavera aspect!  All to your liking, of course!

Along with the risotto, I had some green beans wasting away in the fridge.  There is nothing better than some frizzled green beans topped with a little crispy prosciutto.

Who doesn't love some fresh, frizzled beans!  Again, this photo appears to be somewhat orange.

  Note to self...check camera settings!

Now that the inferior sides (don't ever let on I referred to them as being inferior...otherwise, some evening I will awake to a grean bean wielding a large kitchen knife hovering over my sleeping body and threatening my life, thus causing me to fear for my safety).  But, those veggies have no idea my knives are sooooo dull, they'd be better off coming after me with a spoon!  hahahahha.

Shall we move on to the final product.  My $3.15 scallops, better referred as a $4.00 complete meal! :-).  I did not take a separate photo of the lonely scallops upon completion as they were more photogenic in the final product.

They were pan seared.  I read in a magazine that in order to ensure an amazing crust, they need to be very dry.  So, well in advance, I rinsed and dried them.  Underneath the scallops is a citrus Buerre Blanc sauce.  That's a fancy-pants-French term for white butter ...and it totally sounds better than it tasted.  Evaluating my meal.....the sauce could have used something.  I'm not sure what, however little is sometimes better than more.  The scallops were divine and had a perfect crust.  Mr. Risotto and  (we haven't quite graduated to a first name basis)...I have always had difficulties, but this time it actually turned out quite well and the broiled veggies made it even better!  The beans...you can't really screw up frizzled, fresh green beans with some crumbled prosciutto.

I thank you for joining me...as does E.V., even though her regards are sent from underneath the bed.  Here's looking forward to an even better meal tomorrow!