Hot Crab Dip

Like I’ve shared before, seafood does not have to be expensive. Like shrimp, which can be found in frozen bags on sale for a good price, crabmeat can be purchased without breaking the bank. Using canned crabmeat, which is found near the canned tuna and salmon in the grocery aisles, is an affordable option. In addition, using canned crabmeat in a dish like a dip, pasta or soup gives you all the decadence of crabmeat, but stretches it further than eating, say, crab cakes. There are a million different variations on crab dip, but this is my favorite. This is actually a Sweet Pea original recipe that I developed two summers ago when we were at the beach during a Tropical Storm. The storm hit the beach with great fury and while we had a lot of food for our meals, we were missing a good munchie on which to snack during the torrential rain and wind. Going out to the market was not an option, so we scrounged up what we had on hand, and baked it up in the oven. Was it good? Try the recipe for yourself to see…but I will say this…we forgot all about the raging storm outside once we were nibbling on this awesome crab dip. Hot Crab Dip 8 0z crab meat (we used back fin) 8 oz cream cheese 2 T mayonnaise 1/4 c red onion, diced 1 celery stalk, diced 1 clove of garlic, minced a few good shakes of Old Bay (probably about 1/4-1/2 t for all you measure-aholics out there) 1/4 c grated parmesan cheese parsley (optional) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients except the parmesan cheese. Put in an oven safe dish and sprinkle parmesan cheese on top. Bake 15 minute or so or until bubbly. Scoop into a bowl, sprinkle with parsley on top and serve with crackers, baguette, or cut up vegetables. Yum, yum. Have a great weekend all--this is our last weekend before school ends and the summer truly begins! SPC