Bacon Wrapped Scallops

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway for Albertsons. All opinions are 100% mine.

Summer is here which means it’s time to fire up the grill. The possibilities are endless when it comes to grilling options, from vegetables, to burgers, steak and even seafood. I love that I can rely on my local Safeway (it’s literally up the street) to help me with my grilling menu.

If you aren't familiar with it already, Safeway has a popular line of products, O Organics® and Open Nature® that I’ve been buying for years. O Organics® is USDA certified organic, high quality and affordable. Open Nature® is free from 110 food additives like nitrates, benzoates, artificial flavors and preservatives. These product lines feature a variety of items from high protein and air chilled to plant based and everything in between.

I'll confess, when planning my first summer grilling menu, my first thought was steak. Easy, fool proof, and traditional.

BUT then I saw the Open Nature scallops while shopping on Safeway.com.

BACON WRAPPED SCALLOPS.

Things came to a screeching halt. A plan quickly came into place, and Safeway had everything I needed for the perfect grilled meal. As an added bonus, EVERYTHING used in this recipe was from Safeway’s O Organics and Open Nature product line.

HOW TO MAKE BACON WRAPPED SCALLOPS

Bacon wrapped scallops paired with grilled vegetables is the perfect way to start summer on the grill. This recipe has very little prep, and all of the ingredients are easy to find at Safeway.

INGREDIENTS FOR BACON WRAPPED SCALLOPS

12 slices center cut bacon
12 “Colossal” sea scallops
2tablespoons spice blend (see below)
Black pepper to taste
Unsalted butter, room temperature, in slices

Spice Blend**

1 tbs black pepper
1 tbs cayenne pepper
1 tbs dried oregano
1 tbs dried thyme
1 tbs onion powder
2½ tbs paprika
2 tbs salt

**I love making different spice blends to have on hand for cooking. It makes it so much easier to just scoop out what I need. Try this blend on chicken or veggies too. Store it in a tightly closed container.

Supplies:
Bamboo skewers, presoaked for 30 minutes
Parchment paper
Baking sheet
Cooling rack
Recommended: grilling skewer basket

DIRECTIONS FOR BACON WRAPPED SCALLOPS

First, prep your bacon. Start by preheating the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Line the bacon strips on the parchment paper and bake until just beginning to get golden, but still pliable. Depending on your oven this takes about 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside until cool.

Meanwhile, preheat your gas grill to medium-high heat.

While the grill is heating, season your scallops evenly with spice blend. Wrap a piece of bacon around each scallop, and secure it by sliding a bamboo skewer down the center. Put 3 scallops on each skewer. Repeat with the remaining scallops.

Brush your skewer basket lightly with olive oil and place scallop skewers in the basket. Place the basket on your preheated grill and cook the bacon wrapped scallop skewers, turning frequently, for about 7 minutes.

Transfer scallop skewers to a platter and dab generously with butter, and sprinkle with black ground pepper.

Serve with grilled vegetables.

I love grilled vegetables. They are so simple and flavorful and a great pairing with the bacon wrapped scallops. I simply tossed some asparagus and cherry tomatoes with olive oil and my spice blend. Grill in a basket (or on heavy duty aluminum foil) for about 4 minutes. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar.

While my Safeway is convenient to me, I like that I can stay at home and take advantage of their delivery service. Safeway offers Grocery Delivery and DriveUp & Go™ for convenient ways to shop! Being able to order through the app on my phone or my computer desktop made it really easy not to plan my order, but stick to my budget. I was able to designate whether or not I would accept substitutions if something was out of stock too. It was all very easy.

Find O Organics® and Open Nature® exclusively at your local Safeway store *I shopped at Safeway in my local area, but you can also find O Organics® and Open Nature® products at the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons.