Weeknight dinner

Ok, this was a dinner I made after I read a recipe that called it a delicious, speedy, weeknight dinner. Of course, I changed the recipe to suit what I had on hand and made it on a Saturday night because I had bought dry scallops (not the grocery store ones that are injected or soaked in some salt solution). My husband doesn't normally like scallops so I invited my dear friend Holly over because she usually loves everything I do! So, it became a weekend, guest worthy dinner but it was fairly speedy and it was amazing.
The secret is the dry scallops. I learned at a cooking class at http://www.kitchenatthestore.com/ with Eric Warnstedt Chef/owner of Hen of the Wood in Waterbury http://www.henofthewood.com/ that the key to the perfect seared scallop - restaurant style is in buying the dry scallops. He said they are difficult to get around here (Vermont) because the chefs usually buy them all but I found them at the quirkiest market on Elm Street in Montpelier - The Uncommon Market http://www.uncommonmarket.net/. They were amazing!
I also bought some fingerling potatoes from the farmers market that morning so I boiled them up, added some
Vermont Butter and Cheese CremeFraiche and smashed them. I had also sauteed some wild leeks - got to love spring in Vermont and ramps (wild leeks)- in butter and when they were soft and silky I folded them into the smashed potatoes - colcannon style. Then I realized that the meal was awfully white-ish so I grabbed a bunch of grape tomatoes and put them on a sheet pan with a little olive oil and some kosher salt and roasted them at 425 until popped and soft. Seared the scallops for about 2 min a side in my trusty cast iron pan and put the 'colcannon' in the center of the plate, the roasted tomatoes with fresh torn basil on the side and placed the beautiful scallops in their place of honor on top of the potatoes.
A special bottle of wine and that menu, it was a perfect night - I think my husband even did the dishes.....