My Man Made Mussels Marinara

Talk about alliteration in that Post Title. Whew. Try to say that fast 10 X in a row. Seriously, try it. I gave up after fumbling the 3rd try.

I love to bake yummy sweets and my husband cooks the most amazing dinners. So why not share the love with my readers and show you some recipes we've attempted (me) or created (husband). Maybe you'll find some food inspiration.

For the fashion lovers, I'm in no way suggesting that this will become a food only blog...I definitely don't have the time and patience for that!

Today I'm sharing a creation my husband recently made last week. He went to the store to buy some ingredients for dinner and saw some fresh mussels there and couldn't resist to get them. I asked my dear husband to write up a recipe for the dish he made and he gladly did so. Please note that I did nothing at all to help with this dish...except to eat it!

1. Make rice, whatever kind you want. [I'm going to assume stove top kind will work pretty well since that's what the husband used.]

A long grain and wild rice combo was used here. Pasta would be good too. At the end of the rice cooking, add a can of diced tomatoes; add salt, pepper, garlic, and olive oil to taste. Add some shredded cheese and stire. Manchego cheese was used for this dish.

2. Meanwhile, cook fresh, sliced chorizo in a pan with a little olive oil, about 7 minutes. Add shrimp and cook about 5 minutes. Add a can of crushed tomatoes and a little water. Let it stew for a bit.

3. When you have 10 minutes left on your rice, add the mussels to the pan and cover. Turn the heat to medium-high if it isn't already. The mussels should only take about 5 minutes to open up. After they open, uncover and spoon some of the sauce onto the mussels and mix them up with the rest of it.

4. Serve the proteins and sauce on top of the rice. Spoon remaining sauce over all of it.

Any combination of proteins and rice/pasta would work. You could use chicken instead of chorizo, calamari instea of shrimp or mussels. You could add peppers and onions for a more Spanish style or you could add Italian herbs and use parmesan instead of machego for the cheese.

**Tips for working with mussels: Discard any mussels that are open when you bought them. Before cooking, wash them thoroughly and remove the beards, if not already removed.

Maybe you're like me and didn't know what a beard is on a mussel. It is some furry stuff that grows on it. Most mollusks have beards when they come out of the ocean. They are usually removed before you buy them, but not always if you get them from a specialty store.

Next food post will feature pound cake...stay tuned!

Any food creations you've made recently and want to share?