Review of last recipe (photo above) - This is quite good and I like the pan prep where you butter it and dust with bread crumbs.  After it baked , it almost gave it a crust, without all the calories of a dough. 

TODAY'S RECIPE - PASTA MUSSEL SALAD
This recipe may be a bit summer-y for the fall season, but it sounds really good!

Serves 6

4 quarts mussels
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion, cut into 1/4" dice
1/2 small carrot, cut into 1/4" dice
bouquet garni (3-4 parsley stems, small bay leaf and some thyme)
4 (about 1/2 lb) cups cooked pasta (the recipe suggests fusilli or a flat noodle; will be using fusilli)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground pepper

Dressing:
1 1/2 cups olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp chopped parsley
2 tsp chopped chives
1 tsp dried or fresh basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp gound pepper

Scrub mussels and scrape off the beards.  Rinse under cold water until the water is clear.  Discard any that are open or that have broken shells.

Heat 2 tbsp butter in a pot that is large enough to hold all the mussels.  Cook the diced carrot and onion for about 5 minutes.  Add the bouquet garni, mussels and wine.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes, shaking the pot several times.  Check after 5 minutes, and continue to cook is many of the mussels have not opened.  Discard any that do not open after 7 minutes of cooking.  Remove the mussels, cool, and remove the mussel meat from the shells when cool enough to do so.  Strain the cooking juice through several of cheesecloth and simmer until reduced to about 1/2 cup and set aside.  Note:  I won't be doing this as I never have cheesecloth on hand, but will pour out as much of the liquid as possible and toss away the veggies etc. and go on from there.

Cook pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Drain and add 1 tbsp butter, and salt and pepper to taste.

To make the dressing, use 3 parts olive oil with 1 part reserved mussel broth and lemon juice.  Add parsley, chives, basil, salt and pepper.  Go easy on the salt as the mussel juices are apt to be quite salty.

To prepare the salad, mix the pasta with some of the dressing.  Gently toss with the mussels. Add more dressing to taste.  Cover and refrigerate.  Serve on a bed of Boston lettuce.  Sprinkle with some chopped parsley and a few grinds of fresh pepper.

Nutritional information: Cal 714, Pro 10 g, fat 59 g, CHO 33 g, Sodium 438 mg