Corn and scallop johnnycakes with green onion sauce

If you enjoy pancakes, you'll love these johnnycakes. Johnnycakes are similar to pancakes, but made with cornmeal to give you a crunch. Loaded with sweet corn and bay scallops these corn cakes are perfect as an appetizer or side dish.

Fresh Corn and Scallop Johnnycakes with Green Onion Sauce

Recipe from Cooking Light

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Yield: 8 servings 

Ingredients

Sauce:

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh parsley leaves

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp light mayo

1 tbsp reduced fat sour cream

1 tbsp ketchup

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/8 tsp ground red pepper

Cakes:

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1 1/4 cups low-fat buttermilk

1 tbsp chopped fresh chives

1 large egg

1 cup fresh corn kernels (about 2 ears)

3/4 lb bay scallops, coarsely chopped

cooking spray

Directions

1. To prepare sauce, place first 8 ingredients in a food processor; process until smooth. Cover and chill until ready to serve.
2. To prepare cakes, combine cornmeal and next 6 ingredients (through 1/4 tsp red pepper) in a large bowl; add buttermilk, 1 tbsp of chives, and egg, stirring with a whisk until blended. Fold in corn and scallops.
3. Heat a nonstick griddle or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Spoon batter by heaping tablespoons onto hot pan. Turn johnnycakes over when edges begin to brown (about 2 minutes). Cook an additional 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove johnnycakes from pan; cover and keep warm. repeat procedure with cooking spray and remaining batter. Serve warm with sauce.

Nutritional Analysis:
per serving (3 johnnycakes and 1 tablespoon sauce) : 189 calories, 3.2g fat (0.8g saturated, 0.4g polyunsaturated, 1.3g monounsaturated), 27.8g carbohydrates, 1.5g fiber, 11.7g protein

**Helpful tips and common mistakes

The basic idea behind these johnnycakes is simply to mix the batter together and cook. For the green onion sauce, I chose to use lime juice instead of lemon and substituted yogurt for the sour cream. 

For the batter, I used canned corn, drained, instead of fresh and kept the bay scallops whole. My scallops were very small so I wanted to keep it as is so you can see and clearly taste it. 

My johnnycakes were cooked on a griddle pan over 350 degrees. An easy way to portion the cakes is to use an ice cream scoop. When you are cooking the cakes, do not force them to un-stick from the pan or griddle. When they are ready, they will easily flip; if the cakes do not easily lift from the pan, they need another minute or two. If you try to flip them before they are golden brown, they will break apart. You can also see bubbles forming on the top and around the edges when they are ready to flip. 

I am not particularly crazy about corn cakes but these were wonderful! I loved the addition of the sweet corn and bay scallops. Although I could eat them just as is, the sauce is a great addition, giving tangy and creamy qualities to the dish. A definite dish to make again!