Seared Scallops and Mushroom Keto Cauli Risotto

It may be the day after Thanksgiving but it’s beginning to look a bit like Christmas outside our snowy mountain door. Yes, yesterday was thanksgiving I did gorge myself on Butter Chicken and Sweet Potato Pie but I may just be craving risotto today. I mean, I did just shovel three feet of snow in the last twenty-four hours. I guess I may deserve some risotto with scallops. I mean, technically, the Thanksgiving weekend is not over yet. Should we keep celebrating?

This Thanksgiving weekend we have a hell of a lot to be thankful for. Of all the things to be thankful for, on the top of that list would be our health, the health of all of our friends and the creatures around us and our wonderful small-town life here in Big Bear Lake, California. Even if that small-town life means that every thanksgiving weekend 50,000 visitors descend on our little mountain nirvana, clogging our roads and making just driving to the grocery store hellish for the people who live in this small town.

As we have spent the last day shoveling and shoveling and shoveling a ridiculous amount of snow, more snow then our mountain town has ever seen in November and I mean never, we are so blessed that we are healthy enough to deal with this much snow.

After years of battling excruciating back pain, I’m thankful for every day my back does not hurt and I feel blessed to be able to help out with the shoveling and not be in pain. Who knew shoveling could be fun? Who knew shoveling could burn so many calories? Goodbye Butter Chicken ass!

Most importantly of all, we are extremely blessed to have a working snowblower. Growing up in the snowy mountains, our family usually had at least three snow blowers and usually none of them worked. Our thirty-five-year-old snowblower is as well maintained as our cars and just keeps powering through all that deep powder. Just like me with the Butter Chicken last night.

Risotto has to be one of my favorite guilty pleasures. It is damn delicious on a cold rainy or snowy night in the winter. It is also chock full of calories and fat and not healthy what so ever. Or is it? Did you know there is an easy keto version of risotto using cauliflower rice? True story. If you are on the keto cleanse, yes, you can have your risotto and eat it too!

Now let me show you how.

Seared Scallops and Mushroom Keto Cauli Risotto

1 bag scallops

1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup parsley chopped thin

2 teaspoons roasted garlic paste

1/8 cup ghee

1 bag cauliflower rice

1 cup chanterelle mushrooms, chopped

1 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt

3 tablespoons canola oil

In a saucepan, cook the chopped chanterelles in the ghee. Add the bag of cauli rice, cook three minutes until the cauliflower just starts to brown. Add the garlic paste and the parsley. Stir in the Romano cheese, the reserved scallop juices and the heavy cream. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of the Himalayan sea salt.

Wash the scallops well. Drain the scallops after washing the last time and reserve 1/2 cup of the scallops juice.

Pat the scallops very dry with paper towels. I don’t usually use canola oil, except for deep frying but it has a very high smoking temperature and you need a hot pan and hot oil to get the correct char on these delicious scallops.

Heat your pan very hot, a cast iron pan is what I recommend for the very best char. Add your canola oil and then your salted scallops. Cook on one side then flip. Don’t double flip. While the scallops are cooking, fish the risotto.

Love this healthy blog? don’t forget to pin it to share with friends and family, and happy New Year from the Hungry Mountaineer!