Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

1 md Fennel bulb, whole
1 Yellow pepper,
-cored,seeded and quartered
2 cn (15 oz each) Black beans
-or azuki beans, rinsed and
-drained
3 oz Fresh spinach, rinsed and
-thinly sliced crosswise
3/4 c Water
4 Shallots, halved
8 Clv Garlic, peeled
4 lb Small to medium mussels,
-cleaned,debearded (see
-notes)
6 tb Sherry vinegar or white
-wine vinegar
4 ts Dijon mustard
1 ts Freshly ground black
-pepper
1/2 ts To 1 tsp. Kosher salt
1/4 ts To 1/2 tsp. Cayenne pepper,
-optional
1/4 c Olive oil

Description:

Ideal for a summer buffet, the flavors of this salad marry nicely,
especially when made in advance. For a shortcut, look for marinated
mussels in your seafood market case. Some stores offer this as a
delicious shortcut for their customers. You can make this salad up
to a day ahead, but if doing so reserve the spinach and add it just
before serving. If you refrigerate the salad, bring it to room
temperate about 20 minutes before serving; this will enhance the
flavors.

Instructions:

Pull the feathery fronds from the fennel stalks, coarsely chop and set
aside. Cut the tough stalks from the bulb and discard. Cut the
fennel bulb vertically into quarters, cut out and discard the core.
Thinly slice the fennel on the diagonal, starting where the stalks
were reomved. Slice the pepper cross-wise into match-stick size
pieces. In a large bowl, combine the fennel bulb and fronds, yellow
pepper, beans and spinach.

In a 10-inch pot, combine the water, shallots and garlic. Place a
steamer rack in the pot, cover and bring to a boil. Add the mussels,
and steam until the mussels are open, 3 to 5 minutes. Discard any
unopened mussels. Transfer the mussels to a bowl and set aside.

Remove the steamer rack and scoop out the shallots and garlic with a
slotted spoon. Boil the cooking liquid uncovered until reduced to
1/4 cup. Finely chop the shallots and garlic and put them in a medium
bowl. Add the reduced mussel liquid along with the vinegar, mustard,
salt, pepper and cayenne, if using. Whisk in th olive oil.

Reserve 8 mussels in their shells to decorate the salad and remove
the rest from their shells. Add the mussel meats to the fennel
mixture. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss. Taste and adjust
seasonings. To the salad with the remaining mussels and serve.

Source/Author: Simply Seafood / typo Bob Shiells

Nutrition: per: Serving
Calories: 207 Total Fat (g): 11
Protein (g): 12 Saturated Fat (g): 2
Sodium (g): 381 Cholesterol (mg): 14
: Carbohyrates (g): 18

Notes:

Dead or Alive

Shellfish, such as mussels, need to be alive before cooking. They may
open their shells to breathe, so press any opened shells together; if
they close the mussel is alive. Discard those that do not close or
any crashed shells. Just before using, scrub mussels to remove
dirts. Pull out the tough hair-loke stands, called beard, along one
side. Simply hold the mussel in one hand with the threads facing the
second hand. Gently slide the beard up and down, pulling it until ti
pops out. Cook mussels immediately, since removing the beard may kill
them.

Mussel Salad Dressing

When substituting fish for mussels, it's easy to replace the liquid
obtained from steaming the mussels to make the salad dressing. In a
medium pot, bring 1 10z can clam juice (1 1/4 cup), 4 shallots and 8
cloves garlic to a boil; boil, uncovered until vegetables are soft
and the liquid is reduced to 1/4 cup, about 10 minutes. Finish the
dressing as in the recipe, by adding the vinegar, mustard and other
ingredients. Seafood Alternatives: grilled bluefish, catfish, trout,
swordfish, shrimp, salmon
Submitted By BOB SHIELLS On 08-09-95

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