For this week’s low-energy-use recipe, we’ve created a twist on a classic summertime favorite with our spicy agave shrimp and scallop ceviche.
Not familiar with ceviche? It’s is a cold, refreshing, and delicious seafood dish full of flavor! Traditionally, raw fresh fish is tossed with an acidic and citrus dressing to cure the raw seafood. The amount of time the fish spends marinating in the fruit juices depends upon the style of ceviche you’re preparing.
When making a ceviche using shrimp, the seafood has to be cooked no matter what, so I developed a low-energy-use technique that lets me prepare shrimp and scallops properly with respect to food safety while still being delicious.
Adding the salt, jalapeno, lemon slices, and butter to the water makes for a great first step to impart extra flavor to the shrimp and scallops without messing up the texture of the shrimp and scallops. Seafood can become rubbery if cooked wrong, but you can’t mess up today’s instructions because you pretty much just turn the heat off and let them sit in the hot mixture for only a couple of minutes.
The scallops will be so flavorful in this dish, you may use this technique to prepare scallops for other recipes in the future!
1) Dice the avocado and Roma tomatoes into small chunks.
2) Finely dice the onions, cilantro, and ½ of the jalapeno (save other half for the stove) and add to a bowl along with the garlic.
3) Peel and de-vein shrimp (if you didn’t purchase it peeled and de-veined).
4) Cut each scallop into approximately 6 small chunks.
5) Add a tablespoon of butter, 1 lemon slice cut up, the second half of the jalapeno cut into chunks, 1 cup of water, and 1 teaspoon of sea salt to a large pan on the stove. Heat over medium heat until simmering.
6) Add the shrimp to the pan and immediately turn the heat to the lowest possible setting. Cook shrimp for 1 to 2 minutes on each side (or just until pink). Remove shrimp and set aside to cool.
7) Add the scallops to the pan and turn the heat off completely. Leave the scallops in the pan for only 2 minutes. Remove from the pan to cool.
8) Chop cooled shrimp into small chunks and add them along with the cooled scallops into the bowl with the other ingredients.
9) Whisk together all of the citrus mixture ingredients. Pour the citrus mixture over all of the other ingredients and toss together.
10) Let cool in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
With serving options that include lettuce cups, crackers, or tortilla chips, this recipe makes for a great last-minute party appetizer or light summer lunch. And thanks to the super-fast method for cooking the seafood, the dish doesn’t need to cure in the citrus juices – it can be served almost immediately!