Easy Seafood Salad

At my house we've been making a concerted effort to eat healthier the past few months, with good results. I can't remember the last time we had red meat in our refrigerator, and when I've made sweets it's been to take to events elsewhere. I bought a large package of imitation crabmeat at the grocery store one night, but after several evenings of noshing on it I was getting tired of eating plain old chunks -- and trying very hard not to do what I really wanted, which was melt a cup of real butter and let the fish swim in it! I just wasn't in the mood to go looking up a recipe, so I decided to make one up. We had a lot of celery on hand, and hey ... maybe I could use up some of that way-too-hot cheese I bought last week. Hmmm ...

The result, I must say, was delightful! My husband enjoyed some of this spread on a cracker and said "Hey, write that one down!" So I did. I've had this on whole grain bread for lunch (excellent), on a bed of lettuce (ditto), and then it occurred to me this would be a great meat salad to serve in phyllo cups at my next tea party. I didn't have any phyllo cups on hand, but I did have some Baked Tostitos Scoops to show the effect. And if you're looking for an easy appetizer for holiday serving, I think this could work there as well. I love recipes that are versatile!

Easy Seafood Salad

1 (8-ounce) package imitation crabmeat
4 stalks of celery
2 ounces (1/2 cup) Cabot's Hot Habanero cheddar cheese
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
Dash of paprika
2 tablespoons mayonnaise (or to taste)

Place crabmeat chunks, celery stalks and cheese (no need to grate it) in bowl of a small food processor and pulse just until pea-size chunks appear (or finer, if you like). The Habanero cheese, even this small amount, gives quite a bit of kick to this recipe. Pour into mixing bowl and add lemon juice, parsley and paprika. Add just enough mayonnaise to make it hold together and combine well. Yields about 2 cups of spread.