My Halloween Game: Treats, No Tricks

HAPPY HALLOWEEN, everyone! Sadly, I'm not really celebrating or even decorating at my house this year, as I have too many other things going on--namely, the dreaded packing, which has begun. :-( And I've started by cleaning out the fridges, freezers, and pantries. Do y'all listen to "The Splendid Table" with Lynne Rosetto Kasper on NPR? LOVE that show, and one of my favorite things is when people call in and list five things that they have in their fridge, then Lynne has to come up with something wonderful that the person can make for dinner from those ingredients. I find this game very inspirational in trying to use up the odds and ends that I'm unearthing around here. Thus, over the next month, I will be sharing whatever interesting (and hopefully, delicious) mystery meals that I can concoct with just the contents of my current kitchen (dig that crazy alliteration!).

I will begin my new blogging series with a quick and easy pasta dish. As I was cleaning out one of the smaller freezers, I found a bag of baby scallops and a package of imitation krab. I began by thawing the seafood, then in a large skillet with a couple of tablespoons each of olive oil and butter, I browned the scallops on all sides. Then I removed them from the heat and added the krab, about a tablespoon of minced garlic, a good pinch of red pepper flakes, and another couple of tablespoons of butter to the hot pan. Once the fish and garlic had both softened, I added the juice of one large lemon and some salt and pepper. Then I threw in a carton of leftover spaghetti that I found in the fridge and cooked everything until warmed through. I added the scallops back to the mix, along with a tablespoon of dried parsley, and a generous handful of parmigiano-regiano. That was it! Easy-peasy Lemon-Garlic Seafood Pasta, elegant enough to serve in a fine Italian restaurant, all from odds and ends that I found in the fridge and freezer! YUM!