A few days ago I was sitting on the couch with my friends just relaxing after the Christmas holiday and one of them started reminiscing about some guacamole I made over the summer. I brought it to a barbeque along with some jicama for dipping and everyone – including the 18 month old – loved it. It was a new food for most of the group and it was a surprising treat to enjoy with a go-to standard of ours: guacamole.
Well, my friend and I were talking about what dishes we were all bringing to the New Year's Eve party this year which was themed as an appetizers party. She started imagining out loud a dish that sounded really delicious to her that included the jicama, avocado, maybe some shrimp and lemon juice… I quickly stopped her and said, “That's ceviche, I can definitely make that for the party!” How have I not made this a million times before?! I think I ate it every day while I vacationed in Mexico this past summer and I was in absolute heaven. This recipe is fantastic, so I had to share it with you all immediately. Please make it sooner than later, you'll thank me!
Ingredients
- 1/2 of a red bell pepper
- 1/2 of a cucumber
- 1/2 of a jicama bulb
- 1 small or 1/2 of a large shallot
- 2-3 cloves of garlic
- a handful of fresh cilantro (to yield approx 1/4 cup chopped)
- Juice of 2 lemons
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 lb cooked, peeled & deveined shrimp (preferably wild)
- 1 avocado (optional)
- Sea salt & pepper to taste
Fresh Fries
- jicama lime juice
- sea salt
- chili powder/cayenne pepper if you like it spicy!
Instructions
Finely dice the red bell pepper, cucumber, jicama, shallot and garlic and place into a large mixing bowl.
Chop the cilantro and add to your bowl, with the lemon and lime juice. Chop the shrimp into desired bite sizes – either into 3-4 small chunks each for scooping with some organic corn chips, or leave larger pieces if you're going to enjoy the ceviche with a spoon or in lettuce wraps. Gently mix the shrimp into the rest of the ingredients and allow the mixture to chill all together in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Optional: Split open and dice the avocado, scooping out the chunks into the bowl and mix to incorporate all ingredients gently so as not to mash the avocado.
Add sea salt and pepper to taste, then serve. I recommend cutting the extra jicama into “fresh fries” and serving them alongside the ceviche.
To make fresh fries:
simply squeeze lime juice over jicama sticks cut to the size of French fries and then sprinkle with sea salt and chili powder.
Notes
Many of these ingredients can be increased or decreased completely to taste or preference, this is cooking, not baking, so please feel free to play a bit!
Try adding some mango or pineapple chunks in the summertime. Use orange or yellow bell pepper for a change-up in colors.