Scallops and Snow Pea Salad -- a midwinter treat from @LeslieBudewitz

Friends, we are super excited to welcome a new cozy cook to the Kitchen crew tomorrow! Be sure to pop in and meet her -- we know you will love her books and recipes! 

LESLIE BUDEWITZ:  Mr. Right and I love scallops. A couple of times a month, a local seafood company parks its funky little wagon outside a bar in the village where we live, selling beautiful frozen seafood. These scallops aren’t cheap, but they are so good!

And when served in this dish, they are as simple and tasty as they can be. Left Coast Crime in 2025 was held in Denver, home to Savory Spice, in a historic district near the river. A group of readers and I made the short trek from our hotel and had a tour of the shop, as well as some taste treats. As one of them said, she half expected Pepper from my Spice Shop series to emerge from a back room!

We spent a fair amount of money between the 8 or so of us, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who scored an extra jar or two of spice as thanks. Mine was Saffron Salt, and we love it, in apricot blondies I’ll share later this year and these scallops. It’s a specialty item, not always available, so when we started using it, I had to think of substitutes I could recommend to you. The blend includes sea salt, saffron, and vanilla, but honestly, I think any could small-crystal salt (or a larger crystal you grind) would be great in these scallops, whether it’s got added flavor or not. I’m eager to try them with a smoked salt. So scan your spice rack or ask for suggestions at your local spice shop.

This recipe originated with Savory Spice, but I have adapted it quite a bit.

And gosh, it’s a pretty dish, isn’t it. I think it would make a lovely main dish for a Valentine’s Day dinner for two!

Have you discovered any new-to-you herbs, spices, blends, or other ingredients lately? Do tell! Inquiring eaters want to know! 

PS: I finally figured out how to embed a PDF of the recipe for easy printing. 

Scroll down to the 💕 for the link. 

Scallops and Snow Pea Salad (adapted from Savory Spice)

For salad:

12 ounces of snow peas, stemmed and sliced diagonally

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

½ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

4 radishes, thinly sliced

For scallops:

1 pound fresh or thawed sea scallops

2 teaspoons saffron salt (see note above) 

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

Make salad: 

In a medium saucepan, bring several inches of water to a boil. Add snow peas and cook about 2 minutes, until bright green. Quickly drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking. 

Use a wide-mouthed pint jar with a tight-fitting lid to create the dressing. Add the vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper to the jar. Close and shake to mix. (Note that because there is no oil, you won’t see the usual emulsification.) Taste and add more salt or pepper if needed. 

Place the snow peas in a bowl and add the sliced radishes. Toss with the dressing and set aside. 

Cook the scallops:

Pat scallops dry with paper towels. Sprinkle with saffron salt or your substitution and black pepper. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until it begins to shimmer. Pour off any excess. Add scallops and cook 2 to 3 minutes a side, until golden brown. Scallops should release from the pan easily; if they stick when you try to turn them, continue to cook and try again after about 30 seconds. If necessary, cook in batches to prevent overcrowding the pan. 

Arrange the snow pea salad on plates and top with warm scallops. 

Serves 2-4. 

💕 Click here for a free printable PDF! 

At Seattle Spice Shop, owner Pepper Reece has whipped up the perfect blend of food, friends, and flavor. But the sweet smell of success can be hazardous . . .  

Spring is in full bloom in Pike Place Market, where Pepper is celebrating lavender’s culinary uses and planning a festival she hopes will become an annual event. When her friend Lavender Liz offers to share tips for promoting the much-loved—and occasionally maligned—herb, Pepper makes a trek to the charming town of Salmon Falls. But someone has badly damaged Liz’s greenhouse, throwing a wrench in the feisty grower’s plans for expansion. Suspicions quickly focus on an employee who’s taken to the hills. 

Then Liz is found dead among her precious plants, stabbed by a pruning knife. In Salmon Falls, there’s one in every pocket. 

Pepper digs in, untangling the tensions between Liz and a local restaurateur with eyes on a picturesque but neglected farm, a jealous ex-boyfriend determined to profit from Liz’s success, and a local growers’ cooperative. She’s also hot on the scent of a trail of her own, sniffing out the history of her sweet dog, Arf. 

As Pepper’s questions threaten to unearth secrets others desperately want to keep buried, danger creeps closer to her and those she loves. Can Pepper root out the killer, before someone nips her in the bud?

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

ALL GOD'S SPARROWS AND OTHER STORIES: A STAGECOACH MARY FIELDS COLLECTION, now available in in paperback and ebook 

Take a step back in time with All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection of historical short mysteries, featuring the Agatha-Award winning "All God's Sparrows" and other stories imagining the life of real-life historical figure Mary Fields, born into slavery in 1832, during the last thirty years of her life, in Montana. Out September 17, 2024 from Beyond the Page Publishing.  

“Finely researched and richly detailed, All God’s Sparrows and Other Stories is a wonderful collection. I loved learning about this fascinating woman . . . and what a character she is! Kudos to Leslie Budewitz for bringing her to life so vividly.” —Kathleen Grissom, New York Times bestselling author of Crow Mary

Available at Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Books-A-Million * Bookshop.org * and your local booksellers!

Leslie Budewitz is the author of the Spice Shop Mysteries set in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and the Food Lovers’ Village Mysteries, set in NW Montana. As Alicia Beckman, she writes moody, standalone suspense, most recently Blind Faith. She is the winner of Agatha Awards in three categories: Best Nonfiction (2011), Best First Novel (2013), and Best Short Story (2018). Her latest books are To Err is Cumin, the 8th Spice Shop Mystery and All God's Sparrows and Other Stories: A Stagecoach Mary Fields Collection, in September 2024. Watch for Lavender Lies Bleeding, the 9th Spice Shop Mystery, on July 15, 2025.

A past president of Sisters in Crime and former national board member of Mystery Writers of America, Leslie lives in northwest Montana with her husband, a musician and doctor of natural medicine. 

Swing by Leslie's website and join the mailing list for her seasonal newsletter. And join her on Facebook where she shares book news and giveaways from her writer friends, and talks about food, mysteries, and the things that inspire her.