Quick and Easy Weeknight Dinner: Mussels

Mussels are an amazingly easy, quick, and delicious dinner. I saw them at my local Whole Foods and figured I’d give them a try – they are SUPER easy to make (as long as you know how to use a stove) and you can add all types of different sauces to make the mussels absolutely amazing. I am a fan of a beer or white wine broth (like from Freeman’s), but I’ve also had amazing tomato-based broths as well.

Ingredients:

2 pounds of Mussels
1 bottle of Grolsch (or 1/2 bottle of white wine like 2 buck chuck)
1 lemon
1 shallot
2 tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted)
A couple of garlic cloves
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

First, dice up the shallots:

Then roughly mince the garlic:

Add a tablespoon of the butter to a pot:

Add the shallots and the minced garlic:

Next, add the juice of one lemon:

Then add the two tablespoons of Dijon mustard:

Finally, add the entire bottle of Grolsch:

Let the Grolsch and other ingredients come to a boil:

While that’s sitting on the stove, quickly rinse the mussels (while they’re still in the netting):

Most mussels aren’t that sandy these days because they’re farm-raised, but I always do a quick rinse anyway. Once the Grolsch comes a boil, dump in the mussels:

Cook with the lid on for about 5 minutes, shaking the pot every once in a while to make sure all of the mussels cook evenly. While the mussels are cooking, toast up some bread (luckily, I bought a half-priced Balthazar loaf that evening). The finished mussels:

Pair with some white wine, seltzer water, or beer. The broth is so good that David may have drank it like a soup. We usually have mussels when we’re in the mood for something delicious but don’t have the time to cook an intricate meal – this is a super easy dish that you should definitely add to your recipe book!

Cost Breakdown:

2 pounds of Mussels – $5.99
1 bottle of Grolsch (or 1/2 bottle of white wine like 2 buck chuck) – $2.99
1 lemon – $0.69
1 shallot – $0.42
2 tablespoons butter (salted or unsalted) – $0.25
A couple of garlic cloves – $0.30
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard – $0.25

Total Cost:$10.89 (for two people)