Scallops with Kohlrabi, Carrot and Citrus Salad

• 6-8 sea scallops (sized U12 or larger)
• 1 cup kohlrabi (about 1 medium bulb)
• 5 large rainbow carrots
• 1 blood orange
• 2 cara cara oranges
• 2 lemons
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• 1-2 ounces of microgreens (optional)
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• ½ tablespoon of butter
• Salt (to taste)

Roasting the Carrots:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F.
2. Peel three of your large rainbow carrots (enough to yield about ½ cups of carrots after they are roasted and cut) and place them on a small sheet pan and coat liberally with olive oil and salt (about ½ teaspoon).
3. Once the oven has reached 400 F, place the carrots in the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until they are slightly charred and fully cooked/tender.
4. Once cooked, remove the carrots from the oven and allow them to cool slightly before cutting.

Making the “Vinaigrette”:

1. Place the two tablespoons of honey into a bowl and zest one lemon, one blood orange, and one orange into the honey. Slice both the orange and lemon (not the blood orange) in half and juice them into the honey, whisking to combine. Add a pinch of salt and set aside.

Preparing the Salad:

To prepare the salad, you will be cutting the various ingredients, seasoning them with salt to taste, and adding them all together.

1. To segment the citrus, you'll want to cut the top and bottom first, to make it sit flat. Then, you basically cut the outer layer away from the citrus. Peeling it with a knife (serrated) is best so you can get the white rind off (it tastes bitter). Once you've done that, cut the citrus between those citrus lines (the white veins) to create wedges and put them all in a bowl with the juice that has dripped out while cutting. Make sure to squeeze the remaining carcass to extract the remaining juices.
2. Next, peel the remaining two rainbow carrots and discard the peelings. Using your peeler, Proceed to peel the carrot, trying to get as long and as thick strands of carrots as possible. Season these carrot strands lightly with a pinch of salt and add them to the citrus.
3. Next, take the roasted carrots from earlier and cut them into small bite-sized pieces of your choosing. Add them to the other cut ingredients.
4. Cut your kohlrabi by placing it on your cutting board and cutting it in half through the center so that your cut splits the root in half. Next, cut the root base (where it is very tough and fibrous) off and discard. Proceed to cut or slice each half of the kohlrabi so that it is as thin as possible. (You can use a mandolin to slice it or box grater if you prefer to grate it.) Once all the kohlrabi is cut, season it with salt (a few pinches) and add it to the other cut vegetables.
5. Once all the ingredients are cut, seasoned, and tossed together, pour the “vinaigrette” from earlier over the ingredients and toss to coat. Set the salad aside while you cook the scallops so they can absorb the “vinaigrette”

Prepping the Scallops:

1. To prepare the scallops for cooking, remove the small abductor muscle from each scallop and discard the muscle. (The abductor muscle is the small rectangular tag on the side of each muscle that holds the scallop in the shell. Some scallops may not have them.)
2. Place the scallops on a flat surface and lightly season with a sprinkle of salt on each side.

Cooking the Scallops:

1. Place a large heavy-bottomed saute pan on the stove and turn the heat on to high.
2. Before cooking the scallops, ensure they are dry by gently patting each side with a paper towel.
3. Once the pan has become very hot, add about 1-2 tablespoons of cooking oil to the pan, followed by the scallops. (Make sure you are putting the scallops into the pan flat on one of the two flat show sides and not on its rounded sides.)
4. Once all the scallops are in the pan, carefully push each scallop flat so that there are no air pockets between the scallop’s surface and the pan.
5. Immediately turn the heat down to medium and continue to cook the scallops, untouched, for about four minutes, or until they become a dark golden-brown and no longer stick to the pan.
6. Once all the scallops are ready to turn, add ½ tablespoon of butter to the pan, and swirl it for about 10-15 seconds to coat the scallops.
7. Immediately flip each scallop, turn off the heat, and let the scallops continue to cook for two minutes in the hot pan. (This will allow your scallops to gently cook on the second side leaving you with a nice and tender scallop.)
8. After two minutes, the scallops will be ready to serve.

Finishing the Dish:

1. Once the scallops have been cooked and the citrus & vegetables have had time to marinate briefly, place about half of the salad down on a plate, followed by a sprinkling of microgreens (about 1 ounce). Place the scallops directly on the salad and spoon some of the juice/vinaigrette over the scallops. Repeat and enjoy.