Mussels.

when you say 'healthy'....

You should definitely make Moules Mariniere! It's so simple and tasty. Using half fat creme fraiche should make it reasonably healthy!

You'll need:
30g unsalted butter or sunflower oil
shallots or white onion finely chopped
garlic cloves finely chopped
white wine, preferably pinot grigio or sauvignon blanc
half fat creme fraiche
salt and pepper
Fresh parsley.

I wouldn't serve them with rice tho, I'd have it with fresh crusty bread.

You'll need a large saucepan or saute pan with a lid.

Clean your mussels and pull off the 'beards'. Discard any mussels which are already open and do not reseal when you push them in.
heat a tablespoon of butter in your large pan. Add some finely sliced shallots/white onion and garlic (use 1/2 onion or 2 shallots and 1 glove of garlic per pound of mussels) and saute gently for 2 minutes. add a glass of white wine and 3 generous tablespoons of half-fat cremefraiche and reduce to simmer. After 2 minutes add the mussels, reduce heat and stir thoroughly. Cover the pan. Heat for 2-3 minutes but NO LONGER than 3 minutes. once cooked chuck in a generous punch of salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle over a handful of fresh parsely.

Stir thoroughly and pot into bowls. Discard any mussels which are not fully opened. Serve with plenty of crusy bread, and some sparkling water or white wine :-)
 
You could keep it simple with some liguine.

Just fry some chopped chilli and garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add the mussels to the pasta a minute or two before the end of it's cooking time, drain, put it back in the pan and mix in the oil.
 
I love mussels with a thai green curry sauce. Uses coconut milk so not low fat, but using reduced fat will not hurt the taste too much.

I generally use "Thai Taste" paste (have a few thai frineds and they use this rather than make own paste in most cases)

Add two table spoons of green curry paste (adjust according to taste) to a large saucepan/pot, and cook out for a couple of minutes. Add a 150ml white wine, and bring to boil.

Add the mussels, close lid and cook for 2-3 minutes shaking occasionally.

Remove the mussels from the liquid, and add 200ml coconut milk, stir to mix and warm through (do not boil).

Serve mussels in deep bowls with plenty of sauce and some coriander (or parsley if you hate coriander) and good crusty bread.

As for unopened mussels it is fine to eat closed ones, as long as they look fat and juicy
The myth seems to have been started by the English food writer, Jane Grigson in her 1973 publication, Fish Book. The exact quote is: "Throw away any mussels that refuse to open."

Nick Ruello is a mussel expert and fisheries biologist and he was commissioned to write a report for Seafood Services Australia, on the rather specific topic of adding value to mussels. Along the way, he cooked and ate over 30 batches of mussels, of various sizes, ranging from 21 to 111 mussels.

Nick Ruello found he found that some 11.5 per cent of mussels remained closed after a so-called "normal" cooking time. When he forced them open with a knife, every single one was both adequately cooked and safe to eat.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2008/10/29/2404364.htm
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hood1971 said:
I love mussels with a thai green curry sauce. Uses coconut milk so not low fat, but using reduced fat will not hurt the taste too much.

I generally use "Thai Taste" paste (have a few thai frineds and they use this rather than make own paste in most cases)

Add two table spoons of green curry paste (adjust according to taste) to a large saucepan/pot, and cook out for a couple of minutes. Add a 150ml white wine, and bring to boil.

Add the mussels, close lid and cook for 2-3 minutes shaking occasionally.

Remove the mussels from the liquid, and add 200ml coconut milk, stir to mix and warm through (do not boil).

Serve mussels in deep bowls with plenty of sauce and some coriander (or parsley if you hate coriander) and good crusty bread.

As for unopened mussels it is fine to eat closed ones, as long as they look fat and juicy
Click to expand...


this sounds quite nice i may try it myself :-)

OP however, is using deshelled mussels which kinda spoils the fun of the recipe. I wasn't referring to throwing away closed ones either, i was talking about ones that stay open before cooking.
 
mmm... Mussels... I usually have mussels on their own as a starter (probably some bread as well), then something else entirely for main (often a vegetarian main). Whenever I've seen them in a supermarket though they come along with some white wine sauce so choosing isn't a problem. I'd usually have unshelled as I've always thought getting them out of their shells as you eat them is half the enjoyment! I've not seen cooked and shelled ones before.
 
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