Mussels

This weekend was filled with some amazing and healthy food. My fave part of the weekend? Eating at the table with our beautiful new table cloth. This weekend featured some Canadian mussels from PEI. Did you  know they are sold at Whole Foods approx 50 hours after they are picked? They are also the best price I have ever seen... even better than Canadian prices (but that is to be expected). I payed $8.99 for 2lbs. They fed us for 3 meals so I would call that a great buy!

Mussels with saffron and tomatoes:

This recipe comes from an amazing cookbook I purchased at Costco called Cooking for Friends by Williams-Sonoma. It was a great investment and has so many ideas. They actually show 4 different recipes for mussels which I think is a great way to add new recipes to your repertoire. I had been wanting mussels all week and this recipe really came through.

Ingredients:

2T EVOO

5 cloves garlic

red pepper flakes, salt, pepper

fresh basil

1 1/2 c canned diced tomatoes

1/2 diced onion

1/2 c dry red wine

saffron threads

2lb mussels

crusty bread

Instructions:

Combine ingredients up to saffron threads in large sautee pan with lid. Let simmer until desired consistency and flavor. You can adjust your spices in your tomato sauce as desired. We are very go with the flow when it comes to tomato sauce and tend to use whatever we can find.

Add mussels, toss to combine, cover and cook on high for 5 minutes until all mussels have opened. 

Transfer to serving bowls with slotted spoon then ladle tomato sauce over mussels. Serve with crusty bread... and maybe some grated cheese... and a salad to add more veggies! Oh and don't forget the red wine!

Of course, we had leftovers so over dinner we decided to make mussel pizza the next day! We used the same tomato sauce, thickened with arrowroot powder, along with thinly sliced roma tomatoes, basil, and peppered goat cheese! I have the best recipe for pizza crust from E's mom... adjusted to include whole wheat flour and chia seeds of course! We also served ours with a salad for some extra veggies.

Pizza crust:

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c white flour

1/4 c chia seeds

1 packet quick yeast

 1/2t salt

1t sugar

1c water (at 120F)

1T oil

Instructions:

Mix together all dry ingredients. Heat water to 120F in microwave, add oil. Combine dry and wet ingredients. Mix in bowl until dough caves away from sides of bowl. Knead of floured surface a couple times. Let rest for 20 minutes to rise. Knead a couple more times then roll out to size of pizza pan (I always use a pre-heated pizza stone for mine). Add toppings. Bake in 350F oven for 15-20 minutes then enjoy!

If you are intimidated by making your own bread, please try this pizza crust recipe! I swear is it fool proof.  If I can make pizza crust from scratch, anyone can! Actually, I think this was my best crust yet. Want to know why? It is very important that you use hot water otherwise it will not activate the yeast and you will have a dense thin crust. You could also use this recipe to make foccacia and just cook it with sea salt and herbs on top!

I also saw a picture of french toast when meal planning on Saturday. I whipped some up using the recipe from The Complete Light Kitchen then made a blackberry sauce quickly on the stove since we do not have syrup. This was a great way to use up some older spelt sourdough we had in the fridge. Never go grocery shopping hungry... this is an easy way to fulfill that rule!

Want any other recipes like my blackberry sauce or salad dressing? Just let me know!

We had an excellent and productive weekend. I even have another recipe for you tomorrow! Yup, I really did cook this weekend.