The Fifteen Minute Dinner: Mussels with Pasta and Veggies!

Most of the time there is not enough time to make a real dinner. Most television Chefs now have five, ten, fifteen, twenty, or thirty-minute meals which you can make, and this one is no different. All you need is fifteen minutes!

Pasta

Butter

A bag of mussels

Pot

Veggies, oil and frying pan or bowl and frozen veggies

Microwave or a second pot

Wooden spoon

1. Put water in the pot, above ¾ of the pot full. Then place pot on the burner which you plan to use and set it for eight. Let the water boil.

2. Decision time! Frozen or fresh veggies? If you go with frozen veggies – grab the bag, open it, and the number of veggies you want into a microwaveable bowl – then place on the microwave as stated on the package. If you went with fresh veggies, great! First grab your frying pan set to five on the stove and add some oil to the pan. While your pan is heating up, select the veggies you want to use and cut, peel, or grate the amount you want. NOTE: I used zucchini – half of a yellow and half of a green one.

3. Once you are done with the preparing the veggies, put them in the hot pan and stir. Now add your spices, and stir again.

4. By this time your water should be boiling. Select pasta you wish to use. Pretty much any pasta will do, but some will be easier to cook or work with. I used spaghetti the first time and tortellini the next time, and both had different, but good results.

5. If you used frozen veggies, they should be ready right about now – ding! Poke a hole in the package of mussels and place in the microwave for five minutes. For the rest of you keep stirring your pasta and veggies.

6. Now, you can poke a hole in the mussels’ package and place in the microwave for five minutes.

7. By this time your veggies should be about ready to come off the burner, or are ready to come off the burner. Do so now.

8. Your pasta is likely almost ready – so you will need to set up for draining the water Grab a strainer and place it in the sink and dump your pasta in the strainer. Give it a shake and let the pasta sit.

9. Put veggies in the pot which the pasta had been cooking in, add three wooden spoons of butter into the pot, and dump the pasta back in the pot – now stir.

10. Once you have stirred the veggies and pasta into some kind of Veggie-pasta-ousarus, it is now time for the mussels to join the show. With gloves on, open the microwave, grab the package of mussels and cut the top of the package. Then pour the sauce into the pot and stir.

11. Pour mussels into the pot and serve.

*Mussels can be found at any main chain grocery store.

**If the mussel is not open after cooking put it aside. Do not try to open it, as it is likely a bad mussel, and could make you sick.

***The time range for this dish can range from five to fifteen minutes depending the veggies and pasta used.

 Bread  Garlic Bread  Wine – a white should do well.  A breaded piece of eggplant