With grilling season in full swing, it’s tough to resist the urge to throw something over the fire.  Unless it’s pushing 8pm and still somewhere in the eighties.  For those nights there’s nothing quite like ceviche for keeping things cool while filling you up. 

But, there’re a couple tricks to maximizing flavor and minimizing fuss.  First, choose fresh, peeled and deveined shrimp and bay or small sea scallops.  These “cook” in the fresh citrus juice the quickest and are widely available at most seafood counters.  Second, marinate the shellfish in the citrus while you prep your fresh herbs and vegetables—a small but valuable time saver on a hot night when you’re pressed for time. 

We typically pair ceviche with tortilla or cassava chips and any of our sofrito bean or sofrito grain pouches.  Simply vent and microwave while the ceviche marinates, or, if it’s really too hot out for even that, eat at room temperature over a bed of your favorite lettuce.

Oh, and a couple cold beers wouldn’t hurt either. 

 

Weeknight Ceviche

Serves two—double as necessary. 

6 P&D fresh shrimp

6 Small Sea scallops or 12 bay scallops

1 small red onion or shallot

1 small red or green chile

handful of fresh cilantro

3 limes or lemons or combination

salt to taste

Rinse and pat dry shellfish.  Cut, squeeze and strain citrus into a clean bowl.  Add shellfish and toss to coat.  Season with a couple generous pinches of salt.  Thinly slice onion and chile, and roughly chop cilantro.  Add to bowl and toss again.  Put ceviche in the refrigerator and wait 10-15 minutes until shellfish stiffens and appears cooked.  Toss again and serve with chips and sofrito beans or sofrito grains.  Or both.