Mussels Fra Diavolo

Yum... it's morning and now I'm hungry :)

Mussels Fra Diavolo

Ingredients:

■ 1 (28 ounce) can plum tomatoes in juice

■ 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

■ 4 garlic cloves, smashed

■ 1 small onion, chopped

■ 2-6 whole dried red chili peppers or 1/4 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes, according to taste

■ 1 branch fresh basil

■ Salt and freshly ground black pepper

■ 1/3 cup dry white wine (or 1/2 cup water plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice)

■ 2 pounds mussels

■ 4 slices whole-wheat Italian bread, toasted or grilled

DIrections:

In bowl, squeeze tomatoes, one at a time, to crush them coarsely. Add 1/4 cup water to can, swirl to rinse and add to tomatoes. Set aside. In deep skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook until golden, 2 minutes on each side. Remove and reserve garlic.
Add onion and cook until soft, 5 minutes, stirring often. Add to pan tomatoes, garlic, hot peppers or pepper flakes and basil. Simmer sauce for 10 minutes, or until sauce is thickened enough to have body but is not thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper. There will be about 3 cups sauce. Remove garlic, peppers and basil, if desired. Meanwhile, place wine and mussels in large, deep saucepan, cover, and set over medium-high heat. Cook just until mussels open, 5-7 minutes. Using big slotted spoon or wire spyder, transfer mussels to skillet with sauce, discarding any that did not open. Cook until mussels are opaque but still tender, about 3 minutes. Immediately divide mussels among 4 wide, shallow bowls and serve with bread to sop up sauce.

Makes: 4 servings. Nutritional information per serving: 221 calories, 6 g total fat, (1 g saturated fat), 24 g carbohydrate, 15 g protein, 3 g dietary fiber, 304 mg sodium.