While everyone in America was busy cooking hots and hamburgers to celebrate the 4th of July, I was making grilled lime and agave marinaded scallops. I like a challenge. I like to be different.

My traditional July 4th dinner. (I don’t eat hots or hamburgers)

This is easy to prepare if you following these simple instructions.

Ingredients: 

3 super sized sea scallops. I found these at Whole Foods. 3 serves one person.

Agave Honey (available in most natural foods stores) This is an all natural sugar from the Weber Blue Agave. It has a carmel brown sugar flavor.
1 lime
1 cup white wine (chardonnay, pinot grigio, or sauvignon blanc)
Box freshly washed spinach
1/3 cup shallots or leeks
1 clove garlic
six large shiitake mushrooms (white button mushroom can be substituted)
1 green zuchinni
EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
sesame seeds

Utensils: 

Grill (indoor or outdoor will work) If you don’t have a grill, go out to dinner and forget this recipe.
Bowl for marinading scallops
Zester
large saute pan

Music: 
Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald for Lovers. I love the cut- Love is Here to Stay

Wine: 
Found a simple Ca’ Rugate San Michele Soave Classico 2010. Soave means soft in Italian and this wine has a bad rap from cheap versions that were available in the US. It is often made with chardonnay grapes. About $8 at Total Wine.

Directions:

Place scallops into a bowl that can hold at least a few cups of liquid.

Wash a lime and then zest it into the bowl. Add all the juice.

Add one cup of the white wine to the bowl, pinch of Kosher salt and drizzle of olive oil. Add 1/3 cup Agave. Honey can be substituted but I’ll never speak to you again if you don’t go out and get the Agave. It is worth the flavor kick!

Cover with saran wrap and place in refrigerator for about one hour.

When you are about 20 minutes from being ready to eat, heat the grill.

Saute one thinly sliced piece of garlic, the leeks (or shallots or onions) in olive oil. Cook about 5 minutes on medium light. Add the zuchinni that has been thinly sliced. After one minute, add the sliced mushrooms.

Put the scallops on the grill.

Pour the excess liquid into a sauce pan. Reduce the sauce on a high heat. (turn that sucker up to high)

Add the spinach to the sauteed vegetable mixture.

Once the scallops are grilled and the spinach has wilted, plate the spinach in a bowl. Then add the three scallops. Drizzle the reduced sauce on top. It should be thick and syrupy but not burnt.

Sprinkle sesame seeds on top. Enjoy.