Shrimp Ceviche with Salad

Today was an incredibly mild summer day in Kansas. By mid-July, it's usually 85+ degrees on a daily, and it's so hot that all you want to do is sit in the pool outside or in the safety and comfort of the indoors with air conditioning. 

I've been wanting to try to make ceviche on my own since watching an episode of "Three Sheets" years ago when the host visited Belize. During my visits to the same country (actually same caye and same restaurant that he had ceviche at one point), I have had my fair share of ceviche. It's excellent warm-weather food. 

"Cooked" by the acid of citrus fruits, ceviche consists of very basic ingredients and requires absolutely no stove-top or oven time. Ceviche can be eaten on its own, with tortilla chips (as they do in Belize), or with salad. Tonight, I put our ceviche on a bed of romaine lettuce with avocado. Keep in mind that any seafood will work with ceviche. Most people love lobster, scallops, or fish in their ceviche. Tonight the ceviche is made with shrimp. 

Here's what you'll need for four servings of shrimp ceviche:

12 oz of peeled, tailless, deveined shrimp (cooked or uncooked, your choice)

1/2 large onion

2 medium tomatoes

Juice of 3 lemons

Juice of 2 limes

Fresh parsley, to taste

Fresh oregano, to taste 

1/8 C mango infused white balsamic vinegar

6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped

1 avocado, cut into slices

1. Chop all vegetables and herbs and place into bowl with shrimp.

2. Add the juice of lemons and limes, and the mango vinegar to mix.

3. Mix well together with a spoon or your hands. Refrigerate for at least one hour. 

4. On a plate, lay out 2 cups of romaine lettuce. Top with avocado. On top of avocado, place the ceviche and drizzle the juice on top. 

The ceviche took maybe 10 minutes to make. Your refrigerator does a lot of the work for you. I hope you try my ceviche soon. It's got a delicious flavor. It's so easy to make. It's simple, fresh, and best of all, interesting!