It's not everyday that people can enjoy a meal at a fine dining restaurant. In fact, some people never get a chance to go to such establishments due to budgetary concerns. Not only that, those restaurants are often a fair distance away from most people, and thus they could be inconvenient to travel to as well. What if you could recreate those culinary delights in your own kitchen? You can when you stock it with Alaska dungeness crab. From start to finish, you really can't go wrong with that amazing seafood delicacy.

It starts when it's plucked from the pristine waters off the coast of Alaska. Just like all the other delicious seafood up there, Alaska dungeness crab is wild-caught, which means it will be allowed to feed, grow and mature in its natural environment before being harvested. In the end, it will feature a superior taste and texture that farm-bred varieties can't come close to matching. Additionally, the Alaskan seafood industry is adamant about sustainability, which future generations of producers and consumers will be thankful for. Current consumers will also be thankful for that because they'll be able to buy and eat their seafood without feeling any sort of guilt or worry.

Alaska dungeness crab is also extremely convenient because it can be bought frozen. Any fears that it loses its flavor when stored that way will immediately be put to rest as soon as the final product is tasted. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that having frozen crab at the ready will make a fine dining caliber meal easily accessible. Cooking it is a simple matter of steaming it as the directions on the bag specify. If you need some help, there's a Cook It Frozen website you can visit as well as a Cook It Frozen iPhone application that you can download. Although cooking it is sometimes considered the hard part, with those kinds of resources in your corner you'll have no problems preparing it just right.

The benefits don't stop with the exquisite flavor your taste buds are going to experience. Alaska dungeness crab is also good for your health because it's an excellent source of high quality protein, zinc, copper, calcium, and more. At the same time, it's low in fat and calories. Ultimately, it's food you can enjoy as often as you want. Being available year-round, enjoying it as often as you want is a realistic possibility too.

Related Recipes:
Sweet Potato Casserole & More Thanksgiving Casserole Recipes
Easy Thanksgiving Side Dishes
Easy Thanksgiving Stuffing Recipes

I always thought that my Thanksgiving dinner covered all the bases—ample side dishes, casseroles, two kinds of stuffing, dessert and of course the turkey. But apparently, I’d been cheated out of this Thanksgiving icon my whole life. So I decided on a whim to see what I was missing. I bought the whole shebang—the condensed cream of mushroom soup, the French-cut green beans and the French’s original French Fried Onions in a can. I whipped it up and it was delicious. I’m not going to lie. But it was also high in calories, sodium and saturated fat. Since Thanksgiving is already somewhat of an overindulgence, I wanted to scale back on the processed ingredients and make a healthier, fresher version to enjoy at my Thanksgiving table.

Related Makeovers:
Save 1,273 Calories with This Thanksgiving Menu
Find Out How We Cut 63 Grams of Fat From This Classic Thanksgiving Dinner

We developed a healthier version of green bean casserole in the EatingWell Test Kitchen a few years back, so I made that recipe the following week to see how it compared flavorwise. I liked it better. Sure, it’s easier to open up a few cans of soup and throw on prepackaged fried onions, but I found that our version had more depth of flavor and, nutritionally, it was better for me.

Here’s what we did and how our version compares to a traditional version. See our recipe below:

Green Bean Casserole
Healthy Weight High Fiber Healthy Heart
Active time: 30 minutes | Total: 45 minutes

This healthy revision of green bean casserole skips the canned soup and all the fat and sodium that come with it. Our white sauce with sliced fresh mushrooms, sweet onions and low-fat milk makes a creamy, rich casserole.

3 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 medium sweet onion (half diced, half thinly sliced), divided
8 ounces mushrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
2/3 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup low-fat milk
3 tablespoons dry sherry (see Ingredient Note)
1 pound frozen French-cut green beans (about 4 cups)
1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3 tablespoons buttermilk powder (see Ingredient Note)
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a 2 1/2-quart baking dish with cooking spray.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add diced onion and cook, stirring often, until softened and slightly translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in mushrooms, onion powder, 1 teaspoon salt, thyme and pepper. Cook, stirring often, until the mushroom juices are almost evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle 1/3 cup flour over the vegetables; stir to coat. Add milk and sherry and bring to a simmer, stirring often. Stir in green beans and return to a simmer. Cook, stirring, until heated through, about 1 minute. Stir in sour cream and buttermilk powder. Transfer to the prepared baking dish.
3. Whisk the remaining 1/3 cup flour, paprika, garlic powder and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a shallow dish. Add sliced onion; toss to coat. Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion along with any remaining flour mixture and cook, turning once or twice, until golden and crispy, 4 to 5 minutes. Spread the onion topping over the casserole.
4. Bake the casserole until bubbling, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 6 servings, about 3/4 cup each.
Per serving: 212 calories; 10 g fat (2 g sat, 5 g mono); 10 mg cholesterol; 23 g carbohydrate; 7 g protein; 3 g fiber; 533 mg sodium; 259 mg potassium.
Nutrition bonus: Calcium (16% daily value).
1 1/2 Carbohydrate Servings
Exchanges: 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 2 fat

Ingredient Notes:
Don’t use the high-sodium “cooking sherry” sold in many supermarkets. Instead, purchase dry sherry sold with other fortified wines.

• First, if you haven't already--and plan on serving a fresh, not frozen, turkey--order it now from the supermarket, a specialty foods store, or by mail order. Schedule pickup or delivery for sometime after November 22. See our Turkey Buying Guide for tips.
• Second, confirm your Thanksgiving guest list by checking in with the regulars and inviting anyone new. By the way, this isn't a written invitation kind of holiday; phone calls and e-mail are fine.

• Browse our Thanksgiving Guide and your own recipe collection to work out a menu. What are the family favorites? Where is there room for a little experimentation? Be sure to visit our recipe collections for theturkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, vegetables, desserts, and more.
• Pick up some turkey wings on the way home from work, in preparation for making and freezing a big batch of turkey stock. Use our recipe for Golden Turkey Stock.
• Start planning your table decorations.
• Create one big master shopping list, dividing it into three sections: buy-now nonperishables (wine, canned pumpkin, and even a frozen turkey, if you opt for one); items for the one-week-ahead grocery run; and perishables to buy on November 23 or 24.
  

• Check that you have all the kitchen equipment necessary to make the turkey and other dishes on the menu. See our five essential kitchen tools for Turkey Day.
• Get a head start on biscuits or muffins for the feast by making your own baking mix. Measure the dry ingredients and butter from whatever recipe you've chosen and blend until the mixture resembles coarse meal; refrigerate in a sealed plastic bag. When it's time to bake, there's no need to bring the mixture to room temperature before adding the eggs and other ingredients.

• Check your shopping list and buy nonperishable items.
• If you're serving pie for dessert, make the crusts now. Prepare the dough, roll it out, and place it in the pie dish (don't forget to crimp the edges). Put the dish in the freezer. When the dough is completely frozen, wrap the dish tightly with plastic. For a double-crust pie, roll out the top crust, slide it onto a baking sheet, freeze until firm, then slide the crust off the sheet and wrap it tightly in plastic. See our collection of Pie Recipes.

• Go through your assorted flatware, glassware, serving pieces, and table linens to see what you need to dry-clean, press, or shine, and what you will need to buy.
• Bake any breads or rolls now—they will keep for a week in the freezer. See our collection of Thanksgiving Breads Recipes. After baking, allow them to cool completely, wrap in foil, place in resealable plastic bags and freeze.

• It's time to clean out the fridge. You'll need storage space in the freezer and fridge for the turkey and the do-ahead dishes.

• Make cranberry sauce or relishes and store in the refrigerator.
• If you've gone the frozen turkey route, calculate the defrosting time—you might have to start today. See our Turkey Guide for thawing instructions.
• If you didn't already make and freeze turkey stock, do so today. See our Ultimate Turkey Stock recipe.
• Prepare flavored butters (if desired) to serve on rolls (or to dab on mashed potatoes). Store covered in the refrigerator.
• If you'll be serving ice cream with dessert, scoop it now, arrange on a baking sheet and place in freezer until frozen hard. Transfer ice cream balls to a resealable plastic bag and freeze until needed.

• Thaw frozen pie crusts in the fridge.
• Make soups and store in a covered container in the refrigerator.
• Prepare salad dressings and store in the refrigerator.
• Polish your silver and set and decorate your dinner table, if possible. Set out all serving pieces and place a Post-It® note in each that indicates which dish it will hold.

• Hit the supermarket early in the day to shop for perishables.
• Parboil vegetables such as celery root, rutabagas, carrots and onions in generously salted water. When cool, drain and pat with paper towels. Wrap in dry paper towels and store in a covered container in the fridge.
• Wash and spin-dry salad greens, wrap in paper towels and store in resealable plastic bags in the refrigerator.
• Make pies or other desserts and store according to recipe directions.
• Most important of all: don't cook dinner tonight. Order in.

• If you've followed our advice, today should be a breeze. For the typical menu, here's what's left to do.
• Make mashed potatoes. Refrigerate the mixture; reheat using a double boiler to prevent scorching, adding pats of unsalted butter to correct the consistency as needed.
• Finish preparing any vegetables, making note of how they should be reheated.
• Complete stuffing.
• Put the turkey in to roast.
• Thaw and rewarm (or finish preparing and bake) breads according to recipe directions.
• Rewarm soup.
• Finish salads.
• Whip cream for dessert.

• Enjoy your leftovers! Here are three creative ways to use Thanksgiving turkey leftovers. Otherwise, rest up. Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Year's are not too far away—visit bonappetit.com for more great holiday tips and recipes!

Scallops are one of the most familiar and popular types of seafood. Scallops are related to clams, oysters, and mussels in that they are also bivalve molluscan shellfish. However, with scallops only the adductor muscle that is used to open and close the scallop's shell is sold and eaten in the U.S. This muscle is the succulent scallop "meats" that are familiar to consumers. Three different types of scallops are commonly sold in seafood markets in the U.S. The largest and most familiar is the Sea Scallop. Bay Scallops are intermediate in size and the smallest are Calico Scallops.

Sea Scallops are the most commercially important scallop in the U.S. They are harvested in offshore ocean waters from Maine to North Carolina with metal dredges. Scallops cannot close their shells tightly and die soon after being taken from the water. Because of their perishability, sea scallops are shucked on the harvest vessel as soon as they are caught, and the meats are iced. A small amount of Sea Scallops are harvested by fishing vessels operating from Eastern Long Island ports, but the majority are harvested in New England and Virginia. New Bedford, Massachusetts for many years was the leading fishing port in the U.S. in terms of the dockside value of landings mainly because of the amount of Sea Scallops landed at that port. Although sea scallops are available all year, peak landings generally begin in spring and continue through the fall.

The Bay Scallop is less plentiful but greatly desired by scallop fanciers. These smaller cousins of Sea Scallops are the most delicate and many say the sweetest of all Scallops. Bay Scallops live in coastal bays in the Northeast. The majority of the harvest has traditionally occurred in the Peconic Bay on Eastern Long Island and on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Harvests from Peconic Bay have been minimal for much of the past decade. A number of factors are likely to have contributed to poor bay scallop harvests some of which include Brown tide algae blooms, nutrient availability and loss of suitable scallop habitat. The harvesting season for Bay Scallops begins in October and the majority of the scallops available for harvest are generally taken within the first month of the season. Bay scallops from Cape Cod are also available during the fall. This same species of scallop is being cultured and farm raised in China and other parts of the world, and imported "Bay Scallops" are available in the New York marketplace during most of the year.

Calico Scallops are found in the warmer waters off the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, and also in Central and South America. Calico Scallops are small, and are removed from their shell by a shucking process in which the whole scallops are lightly steamed to loosen the scallop meat from the shell. Shucked calico scallops are easy to recognize because they are pale white and opaque around the edges and about the size of baby marshmallows.

Scallops have a characteristic sweet mild flavor that is well known to most seafood lovers. Scallops cook very quickly (generally 3 to 5 minutes) and can be prepared by a wide variety of cooking methods such as sautéing, poaching, broiling, baking, and deep-frying. Most recipes utilize mild ingredients that complement but don't overpower the delicate taste of the scallop meat. Overcooking can toughen the scallop muscle and cause it to lose much of its moisture and naturally appealing flavor. Dry scallops carefully before pan-frying or sautéing and avoid placing them in the oil or butter until the pan is already hot. They should sizzle and brown almost immediately which will help to seal in the scallop's natural juices.

Fake Scallops

Sellers are frequently asked if the scallops are real or if they've been "manufactured" from skate or shark. The origin of this rumor is hard to determine --there are probably restaurants that have tried such sneaky tricks--but it's hard to imagine it being worth the effort. First of all, skate flesh with its striated bundles of muscle fibers looks nothing like scallops. Some shark could look a little like scallop flesh, but if you look closely it doesn't fit the bill either. If you get your scallops home and still have doubts, check for the tiny white muscle that should be adhering to the side of the scallop. This is where the scallop muscle was attached to the shell. The only "imitation" scallop that you might find in the marketplace are made from surimi which is made from fish fillets and then formed into the shape of crab legs, scallops or other shellfish. These products should always be labeled as "Imitation" crab or scallops.

Aphrodite, the Greek symbol of love and beauty, rode the foamy sea in a chariot made of scallop shell. The apostle St. James also earned fame for scallops, still known by much of the world as "coquille Saint Jacques," by wearing scallop-shelled armor as his personal emblem when he was executed by Emperor Herod. Despite these lofty associations, the handling of scallops is one of the dirty little secrets of the seafood industry.

Commercial seafood distributors routinely put scallops through a chemical process called "soaking." Phosphates are added to improve appearance, prolong shelf life, and add false weight. 
These "soakers" as they're called, shrink when cooked, can harm unknowing consumers who are allergic, and taste lousy. If you've been disappointed with scallops, now you know why.

Rich Scallop Soup 
Serves 6

Ingredients 
Method

1 pound Scallops, chopped into small pieces 
In the top of a double boiler, blend milk, cream, butter or margarine, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Place top of double boiler over the bottom with boiling water and bring to a simmer, stirring frequently. Add scallops to the mixture and cook until tender, about 8 to 10 minutes. Pour hot soup into individual bowls. Sprinkle each bowl with paprika and parsley. 
2 cups Milk 
1 cup Heavy cream 
2 tbsp. Butter or margarine 
1 tsp. Salt 
1/4 tsp White pepper 
1 tsp. Worcestershire sauce 
Paprika 
3 tbsp. Parsley, fresh, finely chopped

Recipe provided by the North Carolina Sea Grant Program

Scallops with Green Onion Butter 
Serves 4

Ingredients 
Method

1 pound Bay or calico scallops (or sea scallops cut in quarters) 
In a small bowl combine the butter or margarine, onions, garlic, parsley, salt and pepper. Place scallops in four individual shells, ramekins or small oven proof bowls. Dot scallops with green onion butter mixture. Bake at 450°F for about 8 to 10 minutes. Serve immediately. 
1/4 cup Butter or margarine, softened 
1/3 cup Green onion, minced 
1/4 tsp. Garlic, pressed 
2 tbsp. Parsley, fresh, minced 
1/4 tsp. Salt 
1/4 tsp. White pepper

Recipe provided by the North Carolina Sea Grant Program

Baked Scallops 
Serves 4

Ingredients 
Method 
1 pound Bay or calico scallops (or sea scallops, quartered) 
Mix wine, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in medium bowl. Stir in scallops. Add cream and stir. Place mixture in shallow baking dish. Sprinkle with bread crumb mixture. 
Bake at 400°F until scallops are done, mixture is bubbly and crumbs are browned (approximately 15 minutes). 
2 tbsp. White wine, dry 
1 tbsp. Lemon juice, fresh 
1/4 tsp. Salt 
1/4 tsp. Pepper, white 
1/4 cup Heavy cream 
1/2 cup Bread crumbs, fresh, mixed with 2 tbsp. melted margarine

Recipe provided by the North Carolina Sea Grant Program

Scallops on the Half Shell with Wasabi Lime Vinaigrette

Recipe Courtesy of Ming Tsai

12 shucked scallops (small or singing) 
1 minced shallot 
1 teaspoon minced ginger 
1/4 cup fresh lime juice 
1 tablespoon wasabi tobiko

Mix all together and spoon on top of scallops. Garnish with a little more wasabi tobiko. Plate on crushed ice or rock salt.

Yield: 4 servings 
Prep Time: 30 minutes 
Difficulty: Easy

Seared Scallops with Hot Garlic Oil and Chinese Sausage Sticky Rice Package

Recipe Courtesy of Ming Tsai

Canola oil to cook 
12 large scallops (U-8) 
Salt and black pepper to taste 
1/4 cup cilantro leaves

In a hot saute pan, add a little oil and carmelize the seasoned scallops. Use 3 scallops per package. Place on top of opened package and garnish with cilantro leaves and flash with garlic oil.

HOT GARLIC OIL:

16 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced 
1/2 cup peanut oil (Lion and Globe brand)

In a saucepan, heat oil. Add garlic and cook until garlic is light brown. Immediately spoon on top of scallops.

STICKY RICE PACKAGE:

3 cups sushi rice 
Water to cover rice 
1/4 cup dried scallops 
2 diced lapchang, (Chinese sausage) 
1/2 cup sliced scallions 
1/3 cup oyster sauce 
1/4 cup chopped cilantro 
Salt and white pepper to taste 
4 lotus or banana leaves