Coconut Infused Mussels

This easy Coconut Infused Mussels dish is packed with protein and wholesome ingredients making it a delicious and healthy shellfish dish!

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When I first came across The Whole Coconut Cookbook, one of the main selling points about adding this cookbook to my collection was the Coconut, Ginger, and Cilantro Mussels recipe.  My family loves mussels!  We're used to making them in a spicy red sauce or drowned in white wine and lemon juice.  But I was really intrigued about cooking them in coconut milk.

So when I went food shopping yesterday, I decided that we would finally try this coconut mussels recipe for dinner.  I picked up a bag of mussels, as well as some of the other ingredients needed to make this dish.  I made brown rice as a side.  It was a completely healthy dinner full of great, wholesome ingredients!

If you've never cooked mussels before, they're quite easy to make.  The way my father taught me to make them is to get them nice, drunk, and loose (insert obvious joke here).  Drown them in a little white wine until they steam right open.  They seem to plump up and fall right out of their shell after that.  Delicious!

This recipe was basically the same deal as far as cooking them, but the mussels are made in a creamy concoction of coconut milk, broth, and fresh herbs.  This coconut-infused dish is low in fat and high in protein making it an extremely healthy dish for shellfish lovers.

Coconut Infused Mussels

Jessica

This easy Coconut Infused Mussels dish is packed with protein and wholesome ingredients making it a delicious and healthy shellfish dish!

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Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Servings 2

Ingredients

  

• 2 pounds mussels cleaned with beards removed
• 1 tbsp. organic coconut oil
• 1 green onion chopped (white parts included)
• 1- inch piece of fresh ginger peeled and minced
• 2-3 garlic cloves minced
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1/4 cup fresh basil finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• In a large pot, melt the coconut oil.
• Add the green onions, ginger, and garlic, cooking until garlic is fragrant and onions have softened.
• Stir in coconut milk, vegetable broth, lemon juice, and white wine. Bring mixture to a boil.
• Season with salt and pepper, then add mussels to the pot.
• Cover pot and cook mussels until they've opened (make sure to throw away any mussels that haven't opened).
• Add fresh basil and cilantro to the pot, then serve.

Keyword coconut, dinner for two, dinner ideas, mussels, seafood recipes, summer dishes

A few things to note with this recipe:

• The original recipe called for 6 pounds of mussels.  While I'm pretty sure my husband and I could finish off 6 pounds of mussels between us on a good day, I purchased a 2 pound bag.
• If you're unfamiliar with mussels, make sure to clean them thoroughly, removing their beards (the stringy stuff on their shell) and toss any mussels that have broken shells and are already opened and won't close when tapped gently with the back of a spoon.
• Instead of leeks, I used green onions since that's what I had on hand and cook with often.
• I didn't use as much basil because, again, I used what I had on hand.  My little windowsill basil plant has seen a lot of action lately, so it needs to regrow a lot of its leaves.
• I cut the rest of the ingredients pretty much in half to accommodate the size of the bag of mussels I purchased.

I was a little nervous to serve mussels that weren't spiced up with crushed red pepper and thrown into a big pot of tomato sauce.  However, being a lover of mussels cooked in wine and lemon juice, I was definitely a fan of this dish and even more so with the addition of ginger and Thai-inspired flavors.  My husband actually surprised me! He thought these mussels were really good.  I was just happy to put something completely healthy and different on the table for a change!

The Whole Coconut Cookbook is the perfect cookbook for coconut lovers.  It features dishes from breakfast to dessert, including drinks!  I look forward to making more of the recipes in this book.  Especially since I currently have coconut oil, coconut flakes, and coconut flour on hand in my kitchen!

Did you make this Coconut Infused Mussels recipe? Share it on social media using the hashtag #holokahome. Don’t forget to tag me @holokahome!