One of the benefits of Andy working out of town from time to time is that it give me an opportunity to play in the kitchen and make things I’m just not sure he’d love. Mussels are one of those things. Every once in a while I’ll make them, and while he eats them, they just don’t seem to trike the nirvana that they do with me. I adore mussels in any way. Living in the Midwest here, I’m really loving these frozen mussels that you can now buy already prepared for you. They’ve already been de-bearded, cleaned, and par-cooked, and then they’re left on the half shell. A quick pop in the oven, saute pan, or on the grill and you have a plate of perfect mussels in not time. If you are a fan of mussels at all, look for the New Zealand Greenshell Mussels in the frozen seafood section, you won’t be disappointed.
Anyway. Last night I wanted to cook up some mussels, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do to them. I thought of the chives I just potted yesterday, but decided I better leave them to grow for awhile. However, some rogue chives are peering up through our landscaping, so I decided to snip some of them. But what to have with the mussels… Another thing that Andy doesn’t particularly care for is beets. I adore beets, and while he is coming around, they’re still not his favorite. But would beets and mussels work together? That was a good question, and I decided that the salty brininess of the mussels should actually play very nicely off the sweet earthiness of the beets. I opened a can of small beets, drained them, and set them to roasting with some grey salt, pepper, lime juice, and olive oil. Canned beets are the next best thing to fresh, and since yesterday I actually planted beet seeds in the ground, opening that can of beets felt more than appropriate.
Once the beets were cooked, I placed the mussels on a baking sheet and popped them in the oven for 10 minutes. I placed one tablespoon of butter in a measuring cup, melted it in the microwave, and then snipped my bunch of chives into the butter. My plating began with the beets. Many of them were tiny- barely marble sized, so I heaped those up in the center of my plate, and then piled the mussels around the beets. The melted chive butter was drizzled over the whole thing, and I had my little dinner.
The beets and mussels played off each other even better than I thought they would, and actually, I believe it was the chive butter that married them together. The earthy beets really grounded the whole dish, and then you’d get this fantastic bite of sea with the mussel. They played off each other beautifully, and the only thing really missing was nice hunk of bread to sop up the juices when the plate was empty. I couldn’t convince the kids to even try one mussel or one beet, but hey, that was more for me, and I was too busy enjoying dinner to care.
Mussels with Oven-Roasted Beets
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Place the drained beets in a small baking dish. Sprinkle with the grey salt and black pepper. Add the lime juice and olive oil, and toss to distribute evenly. Place in the oven and roast for 20 minutes, stirring once. At the 10 minute mark, place the frozen mussels on a baking sheet and place in the oven.
When there is just a minute or so left on the timer, melt the butter in a microwave dish. Add the snipped chives to the butter and swirl the dish to combine the two. Place the roasted beets on the bottom of your dish, top with the mussels, and then drizzle the chive butter over the whole ensemble. Enjoy!
Serves 1