Red, White, and Blue: Garlic Cheddar Crusted Scallops with Berry Slaw

Here is an easy new recipe for scallops that I discovered last night.  I think it’s the perfect treat for Memorial Day or Fourth of July, with all the red, white, and blue colors!

Back when The Farmer and I were first dating, I found out that he loved scallops, so one night I splurged and bought some.  I coated them in Italian breadcrumbs and sautéed them in butter.  Little did I know that he would still be requesting scallops for special dinners 33 years later!

Garlic Cheddar Scallops

Usually I have some packaged breadcrumbs on hand, but this time I made my own coating with Cabot’s Cheddar Shake  (powdered premium cheddar cheese) and breadcrumbs that I made myself from salad croutons.

I crushed some ready-made garlic croutons into crumbs until I had about 1/2 cup, and placed them into a plastic bag with a dozen thawed sea scallops.  Then I added  1/4 cup of Cabot  Cheddar Shake to the bag.  In just a few shakes of the bag the scallops were coated with the crumbs and the cheese.

I sautéed  the scallops in butter and a little olive oil until they were golden brown and just cooked through.  The powdered cheddar cheese made the crust on the scallops nice and crispy.

Those plump scallops with garlic cheddar crust were so tasty!

I was thinking about fish tacos, and how they usually come with some cabbage slaw and special sauce.  Slaw sounds good!  I decided to serve our scallops on top of a Berry Slaw, inspired by a blogging friend,  Erika Kerekes of In Erika’s Kitchen.

Salad Dressings Made with Not Ketchup

Erika demonstrated her recipe for Blueberry Cole Slaw at a cooking class at  Artisan’s Palate  in Temecula a few weeks ago.  I’m so glad I drove up to see her teach the class because I fell in love with the salad dressings she made with her original product Not Ketchup.

Did you know that you can make ketchup out of fruits like blueberries, dates, figs, and cherries?  Erika has developed four exciting flavors of Not Ketchup to use as dipping sauces, glaze for meats, toppings for sandwiches, and they also make amazing salad dressings when mixed with other ingredients.   Visit her site to learn more about how she invented Not Ketchup and where you can find her products!  She has lots of recipes there too.

“We fill every bottle of Not Ketchup with ripe fruit, fresh onions, pure apple cider vinegar, and natural sweeteners. No corn syrup, no white sugar, no artificial flavors or colors, and absolutely no preservatives.”    Erika Kerekes

Berry Slaw Recipe

For my Berry Slaw I used a head of thinly sliced green cabbage and 1/4 head of thinly sliced red cabbage.   I made the dressing according to Not Ketchup’s  Blueberry Cole Slaw recipe with 1 cup mayonnaise, 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper.  I poured some of  the dressing over the cabbage and let it chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.    I did not mix the berries into the slaw, but added them on top when I was ready to serve the salad, so that those beautiful berries wouldn’t be crushed.

Now it’s true confessions time.  I was so hungry that I just had to try some of those berries on top of the slaw before I could make supper.  The dressing was so refreshing and the berries nice and sweet.  I’m so glad I still have some of that Blueberry Cole Slaw dressing to make some more Berry Slaw for lunch today!

Disclosure: I received Cabot Cheddar Shake as a gift from Cabot Creamery when I attended Camp Blogaway, a boot camp for food bloggers in the San Bernardino Mountains. I bought the bottle of Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup at Artisan’s Palate, but  I tasted Not Ketchup at Camp Blogaway.   I was not compensated for this post. All opinions and experiences are mine.