Cool Eats for Hot Summer Days

Summer heat can definitely make the thought of a hot appetizer or snack unappealing. I love cool and crisp recipes during the summer months and this recipe for shrimp ceviche (seviche) is one of my favorites.

Traditionally made with a combination of fish and shellfish, this recipe uses shrimp exclusively. It tastes equally scrumptious with lobster, scallops, white fish, sea bass, yellow fin tuna, or swordfish or any combination of these. For those of you who may not know what ceviche is, it is a seafood dish which originated in South America (probably Peru or Ecuador) where the seafood is "cooked" through marinading it in citrus juice. This process changes the chemistry of the fish and shellfish, producing similar results to that of cooking under heat. For those of you who are a bit more cautious about shellfish and bacteria, pre-cooking the shrimp (or other seafood) is acceptable, but you don't want to overcook it to the point that it becomes tough.

This makes a wonderful appetizer when served in margarita or martini glasses (similar to a shrimp cocktail), or can even be served as a main dish. Avocado wedges make the perfect garnish and add a wonderful contrast of color!

Shrimp Ceviche

Ingredients:
3 lbs small raw shrimp, cleaned
4 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
6 limes, juiced
4 lemons, juiced
1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped (I'm not a huge fan of cilantro, so I usually halve this)
1 serrano chile, seeded and finely chopped
1/2 of a cucumber, peeled and diced
1 red onion, diced
salt and pepper to taste
3 tablespoons tomato sauce

Preparation: Lay out shrimp in the bottom of glass baking dish. Pour lemon and lime juice over them and refrigerate for 3 hours. The juice will "cook" the shrimp. Toss with remaining ingredients and refrigerate for one more hour or longer.

If you're serving this as an appetizer, tortilla chips are the accompaniment of choice. Or you can serve it as a main dish or even a relish over your favorite grilled, broiled, or baked fish entree.

Enjoy!