Moules grilles sur un lit d'onions

Because we were traveling and didn't have internet access, I was unable to participate in Blog appetit #4: Moules et Onions. Or, rather, I came up with and made a dish the night before leaving New York, but never got around to writing it up. Today, I was making a desperate attempt to organize the pictures on my computer and stumbled across this one.

When I think of summer food, I always think of two things: the beachy smell of salt air and barbecue. This is probably because I spent many of my summers growing up in Long Beach, Long Island, visiting my maternal grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousins. Very often we would spend a day at the beach and then head over to my aunt and uncle's for barbecue. Of course, our barbecues always consisted of hamburgers, hot dogs and hunks of chicken, with occasional grilled red peppers, portabello mushrooms or onions. Nothing gourmet, but the whole family was together and enjoying ourselves and that was the most important thing.

Before I left New York, the weather was sticky and I would have given anything to head out to the beach for a day. Since that was impossible, I decided to bring the beach to me. Seafood, especially fresh mussels, always smell like the ocean to me, with their salty freshness. I had recently read about grilling them and was curious about the taste, but I had no grill. Instead, I broiled them for a few minutes and served them on a bed of sweet onions. The result? A light, painless, refreshing summer meal.

Moules grilles sur un lit d'onions

Moules grilles

2 pounds Mussels
Juice of 1 Lemon

Pre-heat broiler. Clean Mussels, under cold water, being sure to remove all barnacles from the surface. Discard any with cracked shells or that do not close even when tapped. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place Mussels on top, with as much space between them as possible. Broil for 5-8 minutes, until all are opened. Carefully (the shells will be very hot!) remove meat from shells and place on Onion Salad. Squeeze generous amounts of Lemon Juice on top.

Onion Salad

1 Sweet Onion
Salt and Pepper
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 teaspoon Honey

Mix well and refrigerate until ready to serve.