You know what beats a weekend bowl of ice-cold ceviche, crunchy tortilla chips, and a frosty-mug margarita by the pool?
ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
A few years ago, Jason & I dumped our not-even-a-year-old little girl in my aunt’s lap, ran away laughing maniacally, and then spent the better part of the next week sustaining on the world’s most fabulous ceviches, guacamole, and margaritas in Mexico.
Octopus (shockingly Jason’s favorite), sea bass, snapper… whatever they had literally caught that morning, was ceviche by our 2pm Margarita Break. It does not get any fresher than that.
Ceviche is simply fresh raw fish that is “cooked” in an acidic citrus marinade and then mixed with… well, any variety of things: capers, onions, spicy peppers (a must!), olives, tomatoes, avocado, etc. Don’t be weirded out by the “raw” aspect. Ceviche is phenomenal. Cold, fresh, tangy, and crunchy.
We make a simplified version of that beach-side staple at home a few times each summer, mixing the fish with pico de gallo, avocado, a drizzle of olive oil, and the perfect crunchy vehicle: corn tortilla chips. And all for substantially less than 2 roundtrips to the Riviera Maya and a babysitter.
We have this ceviche on our menu again for this weekend’s Cinco (Cuatro) de Mayo bash. I hope our guests aren’t so weirded out by it that I’m forced to eat it all by myself.*
*That would be a total lie.
Simple Ceviche
A simple ceviche served with pico de gallo and avocado.
Ingredients
- For the marinade:
- 1 lb of the freshest fish you can get (I use sea bass or halibut; scallops and snapper are also internet-recommended), skinned and diced into 1/2-inch or smaller cubes
- 1 cup fresh-squeezed lime juice
- For the pico de gallo:
- 3 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
- 1/3 cup diced red onion
- Juice of 1/2 lime
- 1-2 jalapeno or serrano, finely diced
- Small handful of cilantro, chopped
- For serving:
- 1 large avocado, diced
- Olive oil
- Corn tortilla chips
Instructions
- Place the fish and lime juice in a small-to-medium glass bowl (size matters - giggle - so all of the fish is in contact with the juice but not overcrowded), cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 3 hours, stirring once or twice.
- Just before serving, assemble the pico de gallo and pace it in a medium bowl with the chopped avocado.
- Drain the fish, discarding the lime juice, and add to the avocado mixture.
- Top with a drizzle of olive oil and lightly mix.
- Serve immediately with chips.
Notes
Yields: 8-10 servings
Estimated time: 3 hours 30 minutes