The recreational scallop season has started. Should you have a diver in the family, these delectable bivalves are likely to have a starring role in your meals over the months to come. (See our scallop recipe collection here.)
Scallops partner beautifully with bacon and also with avocados, our buy of the week, which complement but won't overpower their mild creaminess.
Warren Elwin's easy, summery tacos below combine avos and scallops beautifully.
To make them, dress finely shredded cabbage with a dressing of sour cream whisked with mustard, horseradish, ground black pepper and lemon juice. Mash avocado with lime or lemon zest and juice and salt. Grill or barbecue scallops in garlic butter. Grill tortillas to lightly toast, and layer them with cabbage, avocado, scallops, coriander leaves, a squeeze of lime or lemon, and season with salt.
Scallop prices are still high in supermarkets so many of us, without resident divers, will have to wait for cheaper days or content ourselves with avocado sans scallop. Still, there’s nothing too shabby in that. For a quick meal solution the rest of the world seems to have only recently discovered, there’s always avocado on toast. Three to try:
For more, see our avocado recipe collection.
Mexican mangoes are also very cheap buying this week and they too pair exceptionally well with our avos. Now the weather is warming, Delaney Mes' mango, avocado and haloumi salad should fit the bill nicely.
Cauliflower has been problematic this year. Along with cabbage, prices have come down again this week after another climb over the past month. As much as we love a cheesy gratin, it's time to lighten up so it's cauliflower rice to the rescue — try it raw, dressed in tabbouleh-type salads, microwaved to become faux rice or quickly fried in a little oil as a side dish.
To prepare, simply cut off large stems of your cauliflower then pulse the rest in chunks in your food processor until it forms small grains. Do this in smallish batches or you’ll be left with large bits among the grains. Cauliflower rice will keep for about three days in the fridge. It also freezes really well, stored in sealed ziplock bags for a few months, and takes mere minutes to defrost.
Spring onions, watercress, snowpea shoots and fennel bulbs are plentiful now.
Local lemons, mandarins and pears, Philippine pineapples, Australian strawberries and Californian grapes are all in good supply. And look out for American pomegranates.