Here's a natural for dinner

Have you tried mussels from New Zealand, the ones with the green shells? I unearthed a box from my freezer the other night and prepared them for dinner Monday. I remember buying them at H-Mart in Little Ferry.

I searched and searched the copy on the box, but could not find anything that said they were fully cooked. Yet, the instructions said they would need only 5 minutes under the broiler. So I added chopped sun-dried tomatoes to some, pesto to others and both to the rest, about two dozen in all. They were delicious and needed only a big salad to make a satisfying dinner.

These mussels are farmed and I usually try to avoid farmed seafood. But when I looked at the Web site of the New Zealand Greenshell Mussel, it said no additives are used. "In respect to the environment, New Zealand Greenshell Mussel farming is cleaner and greener than organic gardening."

I've always loved this shellfish, from the days I hopped from one tapas bar to another in Spain, where the mussels are enormous. I first encountered the New Zealand green-lip mussel in the 1970s, in a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco. I liked them so much, I went back the next night for more.