It had been a long, hot day and I didn’t feel like throwing a meal on the table.  I had earlier found this recipe in my new favorite publication: Sunset’s Fast and Fresh (go and get it) and knew I had the basic ingredients. I only had to find corn.  Corn?  No problem, right?  It’s summer–corn is cheap, right?  Wrong.  I must have hit the week that all the corn was shipped to China, or that the first harvest was finished and the second hadn’t begun.  I gave my money to the lady at the register, thinking it was the most expensive ears of corn I’d ever purchased.  Note to self: make this dish when corn is on sale.

At any rate, make a note to yourself: make this dish anytime.  They suggest serving it with couscous, pasta or rice, but somehow I had boiled New England supper on my mind, with the combo of the seafood, vegetables and corn.  We served ours with boiled white rose potatoes. I placed those in our individual bowls, cut them up, then over that spooned the vegetable mixture, and then the scallops.  It was delicious, easy and refreshing.

Ingredients

3 ears corn (about 2 1/2 lb. total), husked, silks removed
1 1/4 pounds sea scallops
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 red bell peppers rinsed, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped (I used three: one yellow, one orange and one red)
1 large clove garlic, peeled and minced
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. Holding each ear of corn upright in a deep bowl, cut kernels from cobs. Rinse scallops and pat dry; sprinkle lightly all over with salt and pepper.

2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter with 1 tablespoon olive oil in each of two 10- to 12-inch nonstick frying pans over high heat. Add corn, bell peppers, garlic, and cumin to one pan; add scallops to the other. Cook, stirring both pans often, until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 3 minutes, and scallops are browned on the outside and barely opaque in the center (cut to test), about 5 minutes.

3. Just before serving, stir basil into the vegetable mixture and cilantro into the scallops. Add salt and pepper to taste to both. Mound vegetables in a wide, shallow bowl; top with scallops (and any pan juices).