Scallops with Lentil, Butternut Squash, Walnuts and Lime Curry

This is a recipe I adapted from www.epicurious.com so as to make it into a main course and enhance it as a seafood dish.

Ingredients:

1 butternut squash
4 large shallots
1 whole garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
6 teaspoons curry powder
6 teaspoons cumin powder
2 cups small frozen scallops
2 tablespoons butter
1 cup walnuts
2 cups lentils
4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro sprigs
fresh lime juice to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425°F.

1. Halve, peel, and seed squash and cut into 1/2-inch pieces. Finely chop shallot and in a shallow baking pan toss with squash, oil, curry powder, cumin powder and salt and pepper to taste until combined well. Bake squash mixture in middle of oven until almost tender, about 25 minutes.

2. In another small baking pan, place the whole garlic, drizzle enough olive oil to entirely cover its surface, and roast for the same amount of time as the butternut squash.

3. Sauteed scallops in butter and a bit of curry/cumin until slightly brown. Chop walnuts and mix with scallops; sauteed until walnuts are toasty.

4. In a saucepan of boiling water cook lentils until just tender but not falling apart, about 20 minutes. Drain lentils in a sieve and transfer to a bowl.

5. To lentils add squash mixture, scallops and walnuts, cloves of roasted garlic, cilantro, lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste and toss until combined well.

Tarragorama!

Ingredients:

1 cup or so white rice (depending on how hungry you are)
1 egg
1 avocado
fresh tarragon
generous portions of sesame seeds
freshly cracked pepper
sesame oil

Instructions:

1. While the rice is cooking chop the tarragon, dice the avocado, and toast the sesame seeds.

2. When the rice is done, stir in the sesame oil, sesame seeds, tarragon, and pepper and put it in a bowl.

3. Fry the egg so that the yolk is still a little runny, and drop it on the rice concoction.

4. Top it off with the diced avocado. yum!