Week 3: Ceviche

Today The Geek and I are experimenting with slow roasted and smoked meat, the results of which I will report on another day. But the slow part is going a lot slower than we had expected and lunchtime has rolled around and there is nothing to eat in the house, which is not unusual de la casa De Geek.

As I've mentioned before, The Geek does not keep a lot of food in his kitchen. While I am happy to run to the grocery store, I do not want to make something that is going to require a lot of ingredients that he does not have and result in adding to his mostly empty pantry.

Fortunately, one of our favorite dishes is ceviche, a South American dish that is sort of like salsa but includes raw seafood that is marinated in citrus juice until it is "cooked," a process that takes several hours. I have made ceviche this way, using chunks of fresh (never frozen) white fish (like cod), and it's best to let it marinate overnight to ensure full penetration. But who has time to let food sit around that long?!!!

My trick for making a quick ceviche is to use already-boiled shrimp that I buy from the seafood counter.

Here's how I make it (makes 4 - 5 cups):

• Fresh Juice from 6 limes
• 3 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 a cucumber, peeled and diced
• 1 lb cooked shrimp, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 bunch of cilantro, roughly chopped
• Salt to taste

Combine everything in a bowl and let it sit for a few minutes to let the flavors combine. Serve with chips.

By the way, if you want to make the traditional ceviche, simply add a 1/2 pound of chunks of a mild white fish, fresh and raw, and let marinate for 4 - 12 hours (depending on the thickness of the chunks). Also very yummy!

The Results

DEEELISH! So light and fresh and no worries about eating raw seafood. We have this a couple of times a month.

Ratings

Difficulty: Easy
Time to prepare: 20 minutes
Prognosis: A favorite that we make over and over