SHRIMP & SCALLOPS OVER A ORANGE AVOCADO SALAD

Shrimp & Scallops over a Orange Avocado Salad image

This is by far one of my favorite salads. Warm seafood with a little spice served with a cool avocado and orange salsa over spicy arugula. A two minute dressing, quick salsa, and a five minute seafood makes for a great light dinner. I don't know about everyone else, but every now and then I love to eat a light salad for dinner, and this is perfect.

Provided by SarasotaCook

Time 50m

Yield 4-6 Salads, 4-6 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 21

Ingredients

1 (7 ounce) bag baby arugula
1 tablespoon mandarin orange juice
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 avocados, chopped
1/2 cup red onion, cut in half and thin sliced
1 (15 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained (juice reserved for the dressing and seafood)
2 tablespoons lime juice
salt
pepper
3/4 lb large shrimp
3/4 lb sea scallops
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 tablespoon mandarin orange juice
3 tablespoons olive oil (2 for the marinade, 1 to saute)
1 tablespoon butter (to saute)
1/4 teaspoon red pepper
salt
pepper
fresh cilantro, chopped fine

Steps:

Scallops and Shrimp -- Bring the shrimp and scallops to room temperature Mix the lime juice, mandarin juice, red pepper, and olive in a large bowl and add the seafood, mix well so everything is combined. Only marinate 20-30 minutes.
Dressing -- Make the dressing and set to the side. In a small bowl or measuring cup, add the mandarin orange juice, olive oil, red wine vinegar and garlic and mix well.
Salsa -- As the dressing hangs out -- the scallops and shrimp are marinating, lets make the salsa. In a small bowl add the avocados, onion, oranges (you can cut them in half if you want, but I like them whole), and add the lime juice, salt and pepper. Nothing more. Done! Cover and set to the side. You are almost done.
Seafood -- In a medium size pan -- I prefer NO NON STICK, Stainless or cast iron, but if non stick is all you have that is fine. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and the butter to the pan and bring to medium high heat. Pat your scallops dry and season with a little salt and the pepper and sear on each side just 1-2 minutes until golden brown. DO not move until golden brown. Then they will easily move. If they stick, they are not ready to be turned over. Once, golden brown on both sides, remove and set to the side while you cook the shrimp. Add the shrimp to the same pan and cook 1-2 minutes until pink and they begin to curl. They also take only a couple of minutes.
Serve -- Toss the dressing already made with the arugula in a bowl. Don't over dress. If there is any extra dressing it is great over the seafood. I like to dress my greens very lightly. Add a couple of cups of the dressed salad to each plate. Next, Top with the avocado orange salsa and then top with the warm scallops and shrimp. Just garnish with chopped cilantro and any extra dressing if you want.
Serve with some fresh grilled bread.