Coconut curry mussels are steamed in a red curry broth and served with zucchini noodles for a healthy, yet rich and satisfying appetizer or light meal. This post was written by me on behalf of the Mussel Industry Council. I received compensation for participating in the campaign, but as always all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Although I spend a lot of time in the kitchen there are quite a few things I’ve never cooked before. Many of these things are meat because I was pescatarian for six years, but there are a bunch of seafood items as well, including mussels. I don’t know why because Isaac and I both really enjoy eating mussels at restaurants.
Well, I’m happy to say that a couple weeks ago I decided this needed to change. Fresh PEI mussels were easy to find at my local grocery store and super affordable.
For whatever reason I thought preparing mussels was going to be labor intensive. But just like most things we build up in our heads to be super complicated, preparing and cooking mussels was so much easier than I thought. Plus, the dish I ended up creating is absolutely delicious.
That said, if you’re new to cooking mussels (like I was) here are a few helpful tips:
I thought about steaming the mussels in wine or beer because I’ve seen that done many times, but ultimately decided that a coconut broth needed to happen. One of our go-to restaurants here in Richmond, Saison, has a signature dish with seasonal seafood in a coconut-habanero broth so this sort of inspired the whole idea and then I decided red curry and zucchini noodles needed to be in there as well.
I’m sure you’ve noticed by the number of curry recipes I have here on EBF, but we have a thing for curry!
To keep things really easy with this recipe, the ingredient list is minimal with only 8 ingredients (not counting the olive oil and sea salt) and the cooking process itself takes no time at all. Once everything is prepped and the broth has simmered for a few minutes, the mussels cook up in about 6 minutes flat.
Mussels are typically served with some sort of carby goodness to soak up the broth. Most often you’ll see them with crusty bread or french fries. I’m sure bread or fries would be amazing with this, but I decided to keep things light and healthy by adding zucchini noodles to the broth. Once you’ve eaten the mussels and discarded the shells, you can enjoy the rich coconut curry broth like a soup with the zucchini noodles. It’s so flavorful and having the crunchy texture from the zucchini noodles is perfect.
And just in case you needed another reason to try cooking mussels at home you’ll be happy to know that they’re really healthy. A 3-ounce serving contains over 20 grams of protein and they’re a good source of vitamin B12, manganese, icon and vitamin C.
These coconut curry mussels with zucchini noodles make for an easy appetizer or light weeknight meal. They seem fancy and impressive but actually come together really quickly without much prep work at all. Next time we have a dinner party I know exactly what I’ll be making as an appetizer!
The post Coconut Curry Mussels with Zucchini Noodles appeared first on Eating Bird Food.