Mussels are fabulous. Not only are they dead easy but they’re practically pure protein. Here in land-locked southern Missouri I’ve used frozen mussels. Don’t let that stop you – these tender little mussels have 15 grams of protein and only about 3 grams of fat per 4 ounce (in shell) serving.
The flavorful liquid I used can certainly be modified for your personal tastes. It easily made enough liquid for two servings – I’ve saved half to make mussels again tomorrow.
To serve two
8 ounces mussels, whole (about 16 small mussels, edit: when I weighed them for a second batch, it took about 8 mussels to equal 4 ounces whole, not 6.)
1/2 cup diced tomatoes, with liquid
2 tablespoons chopped onions
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon minced jalapeño
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 cup nonfat chicken broth
1/2 cup canned black beans, drained, not rinsed
salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
a dash of chili seasoning
Saute the onions with just a drop of oil or non-stick spray. Add jalapeño and garlic and cook until fragrant. Add tomatoes, broth and wine until it comes to a soft boil. Season as desired. Stir in beans and drop in frozen mussels. Cook for a few minutes – until mussels are warmed through. Fresh mussels will need slightly different timing.
Per Serving: 192 Calories; 3g Fat; 20g Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 32mg Cholesterol; 655mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Grain(Starch); 2 1/2 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable.
3 Comments
Now this recipe does sound really tasty, got to try it sometime, mussels are one of the best foods I know of, they also produce a lot of aromatic water if one boils them, never tried frozen ones still in their shells myself.
They are just lovely. I was worried the frozen ones would be rubbery but they weren’t. I just heated them through in the liquid and they were marvelously tender.
The easiest and cheapest mussels to get a hold of where I live is canned that had grown on ropes (to avoid sand and such) they are very tasty. And frozen without shells, of course we also, being a coastal country get fresh mussels that still are alive, those taste great, and then one can follow the whole “make sure they close before you cook them and make sure they open after cooking.” to determine if they are fresh enough, only negative with living mussels is they can bite rather impressively for such a small thing.