Garden Veggie Pasta With Imitation Crabmeat or Seafood

Tis’ the season.  Veggies in abundance season.  Living in a farming county, we have roadside produce stands everywhere.  Prices are crazy cheap during the week (prices seem to go up a bit on Fridays & Saturdays for the tourists and weekenders).  Prices are so cheap it’s almost a sin not to be eating your fill of fresh, cheap and local veggies while you can.  So I get em’ in : )

I make it my business to stop at a few different stands 2-3 times a week while I’m out and about.  My last few hauls – cantelopes for .$25 cents a piece, kirby cucumbers – 5 for $1, tomatoes 3 for $1 and green peppers 4 for $1.  You can’t say “no” to your veggies with prices like that.

Here’s a nice throw it together dinner incorporating some of those veggies.  My inspiration for this was simple – I make a Spanish Seafood Salad that’s very similar.  Working off those ingredients and serving it hot with pasta just made sense. Just as much sense as adding the two packs of imitation crabmeat sitting in my fridge that I picked up on sale for $1 each.  I personlly love “faux crab” – I can eat it plain right out of the pack.  Feel free to substitute the real stuff or some shrimp or whatever you would prefer if you’re not an imitation crabmeat kinda person.

This really is a quick and simple dinner.  Chop up your vegetables, mince your garlic, throw it in a pan and cook some pasta.  Keep in mind that you’re not trying to turn these veggies into mush.  The green pepper should have a bit of crisp to it – so if it starts to get too soft, reduce the cooking time.  The 10 minute cooking time is really just to infuse flavors – so make sure you’re cooking this over low / medium-low heat.  Throw the tomatoes, olives and lemon juice in at the end, salt and pepper to taste and toss with pasta.  Done.  Easy and yum – hope you enjoy….XOXO

Garden Veggie Pasta With Imitation Crabmeat or Seafood

Amanda

A quick and tasty way to use up or get in some veggies!

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 35 minutes mins

Course Fish &amp, Seafood

Servings 5 -6

Ingredients

  

• 1 pound flake style imitation crabmeat
• 2 medium green peppers chopped
• 2 medium tomatoes chopped
• 1/2 cup olives heaping (halved)
• 4 cloves garlic minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil + 1 tablespoon
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 3 lemons
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 pound pasta cooked and drained

Instructions

 

• In a large skillet, saute green peppers in 1 tablespoon of olive oil for 5 minutes over medium-high heat - just to take crisp off.
• Reduce heat to medium-low. Add parsley, basil, paprika, garlic, crab and 1/2 cup of olive oil. Cook for 10 minutes, breaking up "crabmeat" if desired and stirring often.
• Add tomatoes, olives and juice of two lemons. Cook for 2 minutes and mix well.
• Salt and pepper (generously) to taste.
• Add cooked pasta to skillet and toss to combine.
• Serve with additional lemon slices and fresh cracked pepper.
• Enjoy : )