Ceviche – a healthy, flavorful way to eat fish 

Tilapia Ceviche

The weather is warmer and the family wants to eat fresh fruits, lighter meals. It is not easy to cook something which is fresh, healthy and tasty. And of course it has to be easy to make.
One such dish is Ceviche.

The first time I ate Ceviche in Cabo San Lucas. We were on our annual vacation. All of us are big foodies so invariably the first thing we do when we go to a new place is to find out good food joints. When we asked the person who cleaned our room what her favorite place to eat was, she told us about this small place near the beach. We got out of the resort, took a local bus and reached this small village. There was this cobble stone street that went all the way to the beach. The village center was a church and around that there were many vendors selling various things. We also had the best fish tacos there.
We found the small shop that lady had recommended, that is where I are Ceviche the first time.
Let me tell you, I am not a fish lover rather I eat only select kind of fish. So for someone like me the idea of eating raw( it does get cooked in the acid) was pretty tough to try. But am I glad I did. That fish was perfectly cooked and marinated in the lime juice and paired very beautifully with crunchy cucumbers, onion, creamy avocado and with a kick from Serrano pepper.
It was a perfect warm weather snack.

So here is my take on Ceviche.

Ingredients:

2 tilapia fillet, chopped in small pieces
1 cup lime juice

1/4 onion finely chopped 2 Persian cucumbers chopped fine(you can also use equivalent English cucumber)
1 Serrano pepper chopped fine
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tomato chopped ( don’t take the seeds)
Salt to taste             

It is important to chop the vegetables in a uniform fashion, it looks pretty and you get a sample of all in one bite. 

Method:

Mix the lime juice and tilapia pieces. Make sure you use a shallow container so that all pieces are covered in the lime juice. Sometimes I like to use orange juice in addition to the limes you use. Here I have used a blood orange that has given nice pink hue to the fish.
Let it sit for at least 45 minutes in the fridge. Then you take it out, the fish would look white, very opaque. This is the sign that the fish is cooked in the acid.

Drain the fish in the colander.

While the fish is in the fridge, chop all the vegetables and mix them in a bowl together. Add salt to taste.
Add the drained fish to the vegetable mixture and mix everything well but with the light hand. You don’t want the fish or the avocado to break and become mushy.

It has a very fresh crisp taste and goes really well with crostinis, pita chips, tortilla chips or even in lettuce cups. I serve it in empty avocado shells, it makes for a great presentation.