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Fancy a winter warmer with the flavours of Mexico...

Try these Coconut Chipotle and Black Bean Mussels!

With the cold winter nights drawing and me still dreaming about eating spicy seafood by the beach last summer I decided I wanted (or more so my stomach demanded) a dish that would both warm me through, fill me up and take me back to those summer days. 30 minutes (and some serious tinkering) later I created this recipe. It was a heady mix of spicy heat, creamy coconut, filling beans and mussely goodness (not sure that's a word but I am going with it).

The balance between the chipotle paste, coconut cream and lime produces a real satisfying kick to the senses with the black beans and veggies providing enough substance that bread simply isn't in my opinion required with this dish.

The creamy sauce with the beans, herbs and veggies all sit beautifully in the mussel shells and are ideal for slurping down. This is not a meal to eat in any form of white clothing!!!

Mussels cook really quickly so only need 3 - 4 minutes to cook, so just add them in at the end once you have made the sauce and veggies. Its important with mussels that you only cook live ones so make sure you tap each one on its end if open and watch it close (if it doesn't close i wouldn't eat it).

The recipe will feed 2 - 3 people with no accompaniments however if making for 4 I would personally add in another 250g mussels. Its a really simple dish to make and i hope you enjoy making it as much as I do...