Charred Pepper and Smoked Mussel Salad
Peppers blistered on the grate, tinned mussels, and a honey-mustard dressing shaken in the jar it came in.
- calories
- 430
- weight
- 9 oz
- cal / oz
- 48
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 12 min
- total time
- 22 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Lunch
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Dairy free
- Nut free
- Real dishes
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Red bell peppers | 2 whole | they ride fine unrefrigerated for days |
|---|---|---|
| Tinned smoked mussels in oil | 2 tins, about 3 oz each | drained; swaps for cooked green-lipped mussels if you have a cooler |
| Radicchio | 1/2 small head | quartered and kept whole until camp |
| Arugula | 2 large handfuls | rocket, if the bag says so |
| Olive oil | 3 tbsp | |
| Lemon juice | 2 tbsp | bottled travels better than a lemon |
| Lemon zest | 1 tsp | grated at home, dried, in with the dressing mix |
| Honey | 1 tsp | |
| Dijon or other sharp mustard | 1 tsp | single-serve packets work |
| Dried chives | 1 tsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste |
Method
- Set the whole peppers directly on the grate over a hot fire. Turn them every few minutes until the skins are black and split, not just tanned. Ten minutes or so.
This started as a home salad built around fresh green-lipped mussels, which is not a thing you carry to a campsite. Tinned smoked mussels do the same job: briny, meaty, and already cooked, and the smoke covers for the ones you would have gotten off a grill. Everything else already keeps. Whole peppers last a week in a pack, and the dressing is shelf-stable oil, acid, and sugar.
The char is the part worth doing properly. Skin that is merely warm will not peel, and you end up chewing on it. Blacken it, cover it, wait, then rub the skin off dry. Rinsing it under water takes the smoke with it, which is the whole reason you built a fire. Fold the mussels in last and gently, or they come apart into shreds.
Packing
Dressing goes in a small screw-top jar at home: oil, lemon juice, zest, honey, mustard, chives, salt, pepper. Peppers and greens ride on top of the cooler, not under the ice, or the radicchio turns to slime.
Variations
- No fire: skip the char, use a jar of roasted red peppers and drain them hard.
- A pouch of cooked white beans stretches this into a real dinner and adds 12 g of protein.
- Swap the mussels for tinned sardines or smoked oysters if that is what the store had.
https://www.awesomecuisine.com/recipes/8245/mussel-salad