Sauteed

1. Rinse the scallops for a few seconds and pull off the side muscle on each if it is still attached. Pat the scallops dry with a paper towel.

2. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a nonstick pan on the stove. Use medium heat. If you're using frozen scallops, dredge them lightly in flour on all sides. Frozen scallops "weep" during cooking, making them difficult to sear properly.

3. Saute aromatics, such as diced shallots or onions, or pungents, such as minced garlic, before you add the scallops, if desired. You want the scallops to sear in the pan alone so that they cook evenly.

4. Transfer the aromatic or pungent ingredients to a plate so that you can sear the scallops. Add a little more oil to the pan.

5. Lay the scallops down in one direction around the pan so that you know where to start turning them over. Season the scallops with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper after you lay them in the pan.

6. Sear the scallops until the edge near the pan starts to shrink, which takes about 2 minutes, and then turn them over.

7. Cook the scallops 1 minute on the other side, and the transfer them to the plate with the aromatics and pungents.

8. Add the tomatoes to the pan. Cook the tomatoes until hot, about 2 or 3 minutes, and then return the scallops, aromatics and pungents to the pan.

9. Stir everything together and season to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle olive oil in the pan and return the scallops into the mix.

10. Cook the scallops until the flesh is opaque throughout and the tomatoes start to reduce, about 1 or 2 minutes. Finish with freshly chopped herbs and lemon juice and serve as is or with pasta.

Roasted

1. Rinse the scallops and pull off any attached side muscles. Drain the scallops.

2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Sear the scallops in some olive oil on the stove in an oven-safe pan, if desired. If you want to use the oven only, place the scallops in an oiled baking dish.

3. Add the tomatoes to the pan along with any aromatics and pungents. Shallots, garlic and fennel always work with scallops, but you can roast shallots and tomatoes on their own if you like.

4. Season the scallops and tomatoes to taste with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle olive oil over everything and slide the pan in the oven.

5. Roast the scallops and tomatoes for about 12 minutes and take the pan out. Add freshly chopped herbs, a drizzle of olive oil and perhaps a grating of Parmesan to round out the Provencal or Mediterranean flavors.

Grilled

1. Marinate the scallops for 15 minutes if desired. You can use a simple mixture of olive oil and lemon juice or your favorite prepared marinade. Scallops don't require tenderizing, so the marinade is optional, but you can marinate for flavor if you like.

2. Set up one side of the grill to cook with medium heat by leaving a burner off and turning the others to medium-high. If you have a charcoal grill, push the lit charcoal to one side of the charcoal grate.

3. Skewer the scallops and tomatoes on wooden skewers, alternating the two. Small whole tomatoes, like grape tomatoes, hold together best on skewers, but you can use chopped tomatoes if the pieces are larger than 1 inch. Drizzle the tomatoes and scallops with olive oil and season them to taste.

4. Place the skewers on the cooler side of the grill and cook them for about 6 or 7 minutes, or until they flesh is opaque throughout Turn the scallops over 3 or 4 times during cooking. Move the skewers to the hot side of the grill for a minute toward the end of cooking to char them, if desired.

5. Drizzle the scallops and tomatoes with lemon juice and olive oil, and then garnish the skewered pairing with freshly chopped herbs.