Years ago, before I had children (who are now 6 and 7), my husband and I would take our boat to a waterfront restaurant not far from our house. Although there are many waterfront restaurants to choose from (we live in Florida) we selected this particular restaurant because it had one of our favorite appetizers—shrimp ceviche served with tortilla chips. Although the restaurant no longer exists, this refreshing dish reminds me of the time we spent sitting on the restaurant dock drinking wine and enjoying this favorite appetizer.
Over the years, I’ve made some changes to the dish. The restaurant used baby shrimp but I found that I enjoy medium size shrimp that are chopped into smaller pieces rather than baby shrimp. I also added bay scallops to the recipe as the combination of shrimp and scallops ensures every bite is special.
If you want to do all the prep at once, do so, but just don’t combine the vegetables with the seafood until you’re ready to serve. I usually prep the seafood and while it’s in the refrigerator, I prep all the vegetables (except the avocado). I cover and store in the fridge until I’m ready to combine and serve. A little squeeze of fresh orange juice and the addition of avocado added immediately before serving and you have a perfectly healthy and crave-worthy dish.
In a glass or stainless steel bowl, stir together the lime juice, lemon juice, Add the shrimp and scallops, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 8 hours. Stir once or twice during chilling.
When ready to serve, drain the shrimp and scallops. Add the tomato, cucumber, red onion, garlic, cilantro, Serrano chile, and salt and toss gently.
Just before serving, add the avocado and the juice of one orange and toss. Serve with tortilla chips.
- 6 limessqueezed
- 2 lemonssqueezed
- 1/2pound small bay scallops
- 1/2pound shrimpcut into bite size pieces
- 1large tomatochopped
- 1 cucumberseeded and chopped
- 1/2 red onionfinely chopped
- 1 cloveminced garlic
- 1/3cup chopped cilantro
- 1 serrano chile pepperseeded and minced
- 1/4teaspoon sea salt
- 1small avocadopitted and chopped
- 1 orange
- In a glass or stainless steel bowl, stir together the lime juice, lemon juice, Add the shrimp and scallops, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours and up to 8 hours. Stir once or twice during chilling.
- When ready to serve, drain the shrimp and scallops. Add the tomato, cucumber, red onion, garlic, cilantro, Serrano chile, and salt and toss gently.
- Just before serving, add the avocado and the juice of one orange and toss. Serve with tortilla chips.
- (Note: this recipe can make 8 appetizer size portions or 4 main meal portions)