For as long as my husband and I have been married, I have made a multi-course meal to celebrate the day. The beauty of making a multi-course meal is that not only do you get to choose all of the courses, but you also get to pace them as your appetites wish.
This year we had a 4-course meal that last 5 hours. No, we didn’t eat for all of that time, but we had delightful breaks between each course, giving us time to develop a hunger for the next dish.
The second course in this menu was a salad. I wanted something light, but I also wanted it to be more special than a traditional side salad. One way I like to do that is by adding a protein. As we had beef as our main course, I decided to use shellfish for the salad. Each of us has different preferences, so mine was topped with shrimp while my husband’s was topped with scallops. For those of you who like even more indulgence, lobster tail absolutely could be the protein.
Of course, you don’t have to wait until Valentine’s Day to make this dish. Serve it with a healthy portion of shellfish and some crusty bread, and you have a whole dinner menu.
- 1/2 red grapefruit
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
- 3 shrimp or scallops
- 3 oz. arugula
- 1/4 cup pomegranate arils
- Salt & pepper
- Segment grapefruit, removing rind and pith; cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Transfer grapefruit to a small bowl, adding any grapefruit juice from the cutting board.
- Add sugar and red pepper flakes to grapefruit. Stir and allow to sit for an hour.
- Heat small saute pan over medium heat.
- Cook shrimp or scallops, approximately 2 minutes per side.
- Divide arugula between two plates.
- Divide grapefruit and its juice between the two plates.
- Top with shellfish and arils.
- Season with salt and pepper, if desired.
