Fresh sea scallops served with a colorful Vegetable Medley Rice makes a quick dinner that only takes 20 minutes to complete. Scallops, which need very little cooking, should be prepared so that the inside remains creamy. Prolonged cooking will shrink and toughen them.

Helpful hints

Scallops should smell sweet, should not be sitting in liquid and show no browning when purchased.

Saute the vegetables in a skillet and remove. Use the same skillet to cook the scallops.

Pan-Seared Scallops

3/4 pound fresh scallops

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon dried chives

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Rinse scallops in cool water, drain, pat dry with paper towel and set aside. Heat oil in the nonstick skillet used for the vegetables over high heat. When smoking, add scallops and sauté over 1 minute, turn and saute 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle chives over scallops.

Yield: 2 servings:

Per serving: 211 calories, 73 calories from fat, 8.1 g total fat, 1.1 g saturated fat, 5 mg monounsaturated fat, 54 mg cholesterol, 276 mg sodium, 4.2 g carbohydrate, 0.1 g dietary fiber, 0.1 g sugars, 28.7 g protein

Exchanges: 4 lean meat, 1/2 fat

Vegetable Medley Rice

1 package microwaveable brown rice (for 1 cup cooked)

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup fresh sliced onion

1 cup fresh diced red bell pepper

1 cup sliced mushrooms,

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cook rice according to package instructions and measure 1 cup cooked rice.

Meanwhile, mix yogurt and horseradish together in a medium-size bowl. Add cooked rice to bowl. Set aside. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion, red bell pepper and mushrooms. Saute 5 minutes. Add to the bowl with the rice. Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss well.

Yield 2 servings

Per serving: 280 calories, 81 calories from fat, 9 g total fat, 1.3 g saturated fat, 5.5 g monounsaturated fat, 1 mg cholesterol, 86 mg sodium, 38.2 g carbohydrate, 4.5 g dietary fiber, 7.1 g sugars, 8.8 g protein

Exchanges: 2 starch, 2 vegetable, 1 1/2 fat

From “Fast and Flavorful: Great Diabetes Meals from Market to Table” by Linda Gassenheimer, published by the American Diabetes Association. Reprinted with permission from The American Diabetes Association.