Sublime Scallops

Combining shellfish with flowers

Remember when I told you to save the stems from the herbs you dried? This scallop dish here is what I want you to use them for. It doesn’t have to be this exact dish, of course, because the method works beautifully with all sorts of seafood. You should absolutely add it to your repertoire, especially since it can easily be transposed to the grill for splendid summer experiences.

Apart from the great flavors you can get from herb stems, it’s good to cook this way because it gets you in the habit of thinking differently about the parts of various ingredients that you’re accustomed to throwing away. There’s a lot of flavor in the things most people chuck without a second thought. Retraining ourselves to use them is a crucial step to becoming a better cook, sure, but also toward doing more with less—which has real, positive benefits to your bottom line given how much groceries cost.

This dish breaks down into three parts: the initial treatment, the final cook, and the sauce—which closes the circle beautifully. I’ll go through each one so you can apply all three techniques individually or collectively to the protein of your choice. This all came together in less than 15 minutes, and holy cow was it enjoyable to eat. Summer is the season for edible flowers, so I also have some tips on how to combine shellfish with flowers in spectacular ways.