Spinach salad with bacon-wrapped seared scallops

I was thrilled to find sea scallops (Coquilles St. Jacques) and baby spinach on sale at the store today. Although I had no plan for what to do with them at the time, here’s what I whipped up for lunch. This nutritious and delicious salad is almost too easy to be called a recipe.

At 35 calories apiece, scallops are a very healthy source of protein. The World’s Healthiest Foods has this to say about them: “Scallops are a very good source of protein, selenium, phosphorus, and vitamin B12. In addition, scallops are a good source of zinc, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, copper, magnesium, potassium, and calcium.”

Spinach is high in vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, folate, magnesium, iron, vitamin C, vitamin B2, and calcium—just to name a few. Among the World’s Healthiest Vegetables, spinach comes out at the top of the ranking list for nutrient richness. It is also concentrated in health-promoting phytonutrients such as carotenoids (beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin) and flavonoids, which provide powerful antioxidant protection.

I seared the scallops in a pan and served them over a bed of spinach for a light and satisfying lunchtime salad. It all took less than 15 minutes from start to finish.