Warm yourself up.

If you're from the east coast like me you know that our weather is unforgiving, inconvenient, and often erratic. With this bipolar weather it's hard enough to plan for life let alone your next meal. I am one of those people that enjoys eating based on how I'm feeling. There are you people out there that only eat to stay alive. Enjoying food means nothing to you but to me there really isn't anything better than a hot tottie on a chilly day or a mellon salad on a hot day.

I think there's a misconception that hot or hearty tasting food are bad for you but if you do things right you can easily have a fulfilling and delicious meal. Here are a few of my new winter favorites- warm yourself up.

Sea scallops served over an arugula salad with sweet potato wedges. Serves 4-6 people.

2 lbs of large scallops
1 tablespoon of black sea salt
2 teaspoons of coarsely ground black pepper
Fresh parsley to taste (optional)
1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive

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1. Pat scallops dry and season with black sea salt, black pepper.
2. Heat olive oil in large pan making sure to coat the entire bottom.
3. Place scallops into the hot pan and cook until the bottoms are a golden brown and flip until the reverse side  is the same- scallop should be done in about  10-15 minutes (depending on the size of your scallops)

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Arugula Salad
1lb of arugula
2 tablespoons of freshly grated asiago cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons of coarse kosher salt
1 English cucumber peeled and chopped into little cubes
1/2 of a pineapple cubed (canned pineapples aren't as good, I promise.)
1 cup of chopped mushrooms
1/2 red pepper into thin slices
1/4 cup of crushed pinenuts

1. Combine all ingredients with about 2-3 tablespoons of a very light extra virgin olive oil

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1 sweet potato

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees
2. Wash sweet potato place into the oven for about an hour until soft to the touch.
3. Remove from oven and let sit for about 10 minutes.
4. Slice sweet potato into wedges and serve with salad

Enjoy!