Scallops broiled with ginger is a perfectly balanced yin and yang meal- who knew?

Years ago, while on a visit back to Austin, I met this fellow who claimed he had completely reversed his cancer by transitioning to a purely macrobiotic diet (and I had no reason to disbelieve him). This fascinated me, partly because I am afraid of cancer, and partly because, well, it doesn't take much to get me intrigued by lifestyles outside of the mainstream.

And, of course, there is Casa De Luz (http://www.casadeluz.org), a lovely, lovely macrobiotic restaurant in Austin, one of my favorite places to have brunch, and one of the many magical places I miss in Austin. But I won't digress...

Wanting to gain an introductory understanding of a macrobiotic diet, I went out and found myself a copy of The Macrobiotic Way , pretty much the undisputed bible of the macrobiotic lifestyle.

Well, if you've read any of my other posts on here, you know that the macrobiotic diet isn't something I adhere to. Not for more than one meal at a time, at least. But in theory, I can get behind it: locally grown, fresh foods are the mainstay. There was a lot on balancing yin and yang in one's diet, which I remember being completely lost of me, although re-reading this part last night it didn't seem so complicated. In fact, there is even a cheat sheet, where I learned that the meal I prepared last night, straight out of The Macrobiotic Way , is a perfect balance of yin (ginger) and yang (scallops).

My original intention was to prepare something satisfying, but light enough that st. and I could still get up and go out to a club (which, by the way, didn't happen, however I don't blame that on the meal).

I purchased the most beautiful scallops ever...ever! They were the size of golf balls, just perfect. I marinated them for 15 minutes in a tablespoon of grated ginger and a 1/4 c of soy sauce, then broiled them for 10 minutes, because they were so thick. They were tender, tender, tender, but when I re-do this recipe (and you can be sure that I will!) I will make a few changes: I will reduce the ginger to half a tablespoon, and marinate it longer. The broiled ginger almost made the scallops taste like gingersnaps, and I couldn't taste the soy sauce (can also use tamari) one bit.

Still, we loved this meal, mainly because in the past I have overcooked scallops, and these were perfectly cooked, and even with the gingersnappy taste, they had a nice, light flavor.

This was my first ever foray into macrobiotic cooking. I'm going to tell people I follow a macrobiotic diet...one meal at a time, once in a while.