Shrimp Ceviche

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Is there anything better to eat on a hot summer night then ceviche?

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The first time I ever tasted ceviche was on my Honeymoon in Aruba, and I have been in love ever since (both with the dish and my husband).

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I went to a tapas party last night, and decided to make ceviche because holy humidity. When I got there, it was the most amazing spread, filled with families from all over the globe, and the best food I have ever eaten. Rice and beans with octopus and mussels, garbanzo beans with spinach and buttered bread crumbs, stuffed fried sardines, manchego and olives and dates, spicy cheese fondu-type dips with cubes of bread, something amazing and creamy with chicken and mushrooms that was supposed to go into a tortilla but I ate it without and it was delicious, and flan for dessert. Plus there was plenty of Spanish wine and sangria. Can we discuss the amazing flavor of peach sangria? It tastes like a glass full of sunshine and fresh sweet peach flavor. There are a ton of recipes for this (this one looks amazing with rasperries), but what made it was the peaches were diced very fine, so they swirled in your mouth and infused flavor into every sip.

It was such a magical night, and as I left and went to my car, the stars were so bright, and the half moon echoed their glow, the heat of the day had turned into one of those sweet summer breezes that feel like a kiss from summer.

IMG_9234Usually, ceviche is made with raw fish that gets cooked in the acids of the citrus juices it is tossed with. (Mind blown, right?) I love it too, but I also love shrimp which can sit around in my freezer until I am ready to make this, unlike fresh fish ceviche. It also uses a lot of the same ingredients as gazpacho, my other favorite summer heat buster (there was so many amazing gazpachos last night too.)

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I actually just ordered this on vacation and I was so excited to eat it when it came to the table. And it turned out just…meh. So when I went to make it for tapas, I turned to the recipe at Simply Recipes since I trust everything Elise makes, though I tweaked it with my own touches, like using the less spicy jalapeño rather then serrano chili so my kids could eat it, adding garlic (which I loved) and since I only had parsley I substituted that for cilantro and it tasted great, very fresh. Often at parties there are people who don’t love cilantro, so it is good to know you can make it with either herb.

Hope you are staying cool, having a lovely summer, and plenty of delicious summer dishes. Or just some cucs and cheese and bread, which is the best kind of summer eating.

xoxo Katie

 

Shrimp Ceviche Recipe (printer version found here):

Ingredients

  • 1 pound medium-small shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 2 Tbsp salt
  • 3/4 cup lime juice (juice from 4-6 limes)
  • 3/4 cup lemon juice (juice from 2-3 lemons)
  • 1 cup finely chopped red onion
  • 2 garlic cloves, diced
  • 1 jalapeño, diced
  • 1 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
  • 1 cucumber, peeled diced into 1/2-inch pieces
  • 1 avocado, peeled, seed removed, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

Directions

1 In a large pot, bring to a boil water salted like pasta water. Add the shrimp and cook for 1 minute to 2 minutes. Remove shrimp with a slotted spoon and place into a bowl of ice water to stop cooking.(You can also defrost a bag of cooked shrimp if it is too hot in your kitchen, but I recommend cooking them yourself).

2 Drain the shrimp. Cut each piece of shrimp in half, or into inch-long pieces. Place shrimp in a glass or ceramic bowl. Mix in the lime and lemon juice. Cover and refrigerate for a half hour.

3 Mix in the chopped red onion, garlic, and jalapeño. Refrigerate an additional half hour.

4 Right before serving, add the cucumber and avocado. Add olive oil and more lemon or lime to taste, depending on if it is too acidic or not enough. (I loved it with 1-2 T. of olive oil, it seemed to meld all the flavors).

Adapted from Simply Recipes.