It’s refreshing, diet-friendly and best of all, incredibly yummy.  If I could pick a recipe to beat the summer heat it would be ceviche.  This dish requires no oven, only a marinade that cures the raw meat through the power of citrus juice.  Because no heat is used, the ingredients retain ALL their nutrients.

The basics of a ceviche are really simple.  Cut some fresh raw white fish, shrimp or scallops into bite size pieces. Cover with lime juice and chill in the fridge until it turns from transparent to opaque – about 3 hours should do it.  Drain the lime juice. This creates your base.

From here you can add many combinations of ingredients. Just let the dish chill in the fridge for another hour for the flavours to blend.

• For zest, add diced tomato, chopped fresh cilantro, finely diced jalapeno pepper, a couple minced garlic cloves, and salt and pepper. Vary the amounts of each to taste.
• Add kernels of corn, finely diced bell pepper and/or onion and small chunks of pre-cooked yam or potato for a Southern twist.
• Add a splash of clam juice, tomato juice, hot sauce or Worcestershire sauce to kick the flavour up another notch.
• Add chunks of avocado and cucumber – healthy and refreshing

(Some people prefer to blanche the shrimp before marinating it.  This requires putting the shrimp in boiling water for about a minute, then plunging it into ice cold water before adding the lime juice marinade. Any firm white ocean fish can be used. Scallops taste great in ceviche as well.)

The number of ways you can experiment with the basic ceviche recipe to get different flavours is limited only by your imagination.

Ceviche can be eaten as an appetizer or a meal.  Add it to crackers for a tasty hors d’oeuvre. Or wrap it in a piece of butter lettuce.

Ceviche – tasty, zesty, cool and oh so healthy!

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