Seared Scallops with Edamame

Working in a professional Test Kitchen definitely comes with numerous perks: for starters, you get to work with food most of the day (than in itself makes it a dream job in my book!), you have a playground to create recipes and new concepts, and you get to talk about food trends and food ideas on a daily basis! The only down side so far? Ironically, my love of food! We are surrounded by so many delicious concoctions that it's close to impossible not to overindulge. The art of restraint has never been my strongest suit, so this has been quite the challenge.

We are currently working on holiday recipes, re-visiting classics as well as inventing new sweet treats to serve to friends and family this coming holiday season. Between coming up with concepts, testing and re-testing recipes, we've gone through dozens and dozens of packs of butter, flour, sugar, cream, chocolate and various nuts.

Whether its a myriad of iced cakes, snowflake-shaped cookies or frosted yule logs, there's definitely something quite surreal about Christmas food displays in the midst of a warm Toronto spring.Although the kitchen smells like sweet gingerbread and candied fruit, the biggest challenge for me has been not to taste every dish that makes it to the testing table.Or maybe, to resist and have just one bite! I've always really loved the whole rituals that surrounds food, and, more often than not, I find it difficult not to order dessert. Needless to say, these past few weeks have been flirting with my sweet though. If you have any advice to share for a healthy balance in a Test Kitchen, I'm all ears!

In the meantime, let me share a deliciously healthy meal I prepared to counteract the sweetness overload at work! I love using edamame in salads and side dishes - they take a few minutes to make, are cooked straight from the freezer, and the non-shelled kind make a satisfying snack when sprinkled with fleur de sel.

Seared Scallops with Lemony Parmesan Peas

Have I declared my love of seafood on this blog before? If not, I must! I absolutely love seafood - some of my favourite childhood food memories include my mother and I heading to our local neighborhood market in Paris and getting delicious shellfish that we would enjoy for Sunday lunches with homemade mayonnaise. Favourites were always 'bigorneaux' (a sea snail), lobster and shrimp. For some reason, seafood always feels like a celebratory meal for me - maybe because it's more expensive than meat or chicken - or maybe just because I don't have it that often. Delicious, fresh - and decently priced - seafood is not always easy to find!

For this dish, I used wild Nova Scotian sea scallops which I buy frozen. This makes it more affordable (usually) and the scallops still taste fresh and plump. Having these on hand in my freezer has helped make scallops a more regular meal in our house. This dish also includes microgreens - healthy edible plants with a lovely bite - but you could replace these with pea shoots or baby spinach, or omit them altogether.Now for the recipe..!