I’d about given up on Cooking Light recipes but they may have won me back with this one. Both my girls loved it and it went together quickly and easily. I used frozen bay scallops rather than the larger sea scallops and just cooked them a bit less. I think it would be better with the larger scallops but the cost was nearly double.

Notes: I used apple juice rather than cider and didn’t have a shallot so just chopped up a bit more red onion instead. They say it serves 4. I made it with just enough scallops for the 3 of us and had just a bit of spinach left over so if you’ve got hearty eaters, I’m not sure about the “serves 4.”

1 cup apple cider
2 tsp sugar
4 slices bacon
1/4 cup finely chopped onion or shallots
1 Tbs cider vinegar
3/4 tsp salt, divided
1/3 tsp black pepper
1 Granny Smith apple, sliced thinly (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup red onion, sliced thinly
6 ounces raw spinach leaves
1/4 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 pounds sea scallops
2 tsp olive oil

Pour the apple cider or juice in a small saucepan with the sugar. Bring to a boil and then simmer, uncovered, until it’s reduced to 1/4 cup or so. Remove from heat and set aside.

Cook the bacon in a skillet until crisp, then lay on paper towels. Pour off the fat but leave about 1 tsp in the pan to cook the 1/4 cup chopped onion in. Cook until soft, just a minute or two. Pour the reserved cider mix from above into the pan. Add the cider vinegar, 1/4 tsp salt, and pepper. Stir. This is your dressing.

Chop or crumble the cooked bacon. In a large bowl, put the spinach, bacon, apple slices, and red onion slices. Toss together. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix well.

In a small bowl, mix the last 1/2 tsp salt and the curry powder. Sprinkle this over the scallops. Heat the 2 tsp oil in the skillet and cook the scallops over medium high heat until done. (3 minutes per side for the larger ones; less than that for the small ones.)

Divide the salad among 4 plates and top each with 1/4 of the scallops.