Review of last recipe (photo above) - When I quickly read the ingredients to buy for this recipe, I thought it was a recipe using chicken breasts, which is what I bought; not a whole chicken.  I used scallions and kept them in the sauce, and forgot that I had no white bread with which I would have normally made the breadcrumbs out of, and ended up defrosting a hamburger roll from the freezer to use (hence the larger than normal breadcrumbs).  But ... this was really delicious!  Another dijon chicken recipe to keep!

TODAY'S RECIPE - MUSSELS WITH SAUCE VERTE
I can say that I'm getting tired of mussels.  After reading over the recipe, there are so many things I don't like about it.  It only uses 18 mussels; meaning 3 mussels per serving as an appetizer  (that's not enough).  Also, the mussels should be kept on the half shell and sauced, and then the mussels in their shells placed atop dressed pasta salad.  To me, that is strange, so I am adapting this to be a mussel pasta salad, since all the ingredients will end up together anyways.  I normally would not do this, but I'm taking the liberty here.

Serves 2-4

I plan to buy a bag of mussels .. usually 4 lbs.

Sauce Verte:
1 cup mayo
1/2 cup chopped spinach
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup chopped watercress
1 tbsp snipped fresh chives
1 tbsp snipped fresh dill
2 tsp dried tarragon leaves
1 tbsp lemon juice
dash of salt

1/2 cup water
1/2 clove garlic, crushed
1/2 lb medium shells or other pasta
1/2 cup Italian-style dressing

Make the sauce verte by combining all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Turn into a small bowl and refrigerate, covered.  Makes 1 1/4 cups.

Debeard mussels and rinse in cold water.  Place in a large skillet and add 1/2 cup water and garlic.  Cook covered over high heat for 5-8 minutes.  Shake skillet frequently so mussels will cook uniformly.

With slotted spoon, remove mussels to dish.  When cool enough to handle, remove mussels and place in a bowl.  Refrigerate covered for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, cook pasta al dente and drain.  Toss with Italian dressing and refrigerate 1 hour.

Add mussels to the pasta and add sauce verte to taste.