Ceviche – Healthy Shrimp Protein Appetizer

Ceviche is a great shrimp and protein appetizer (or shrimp salad). It’s a healthy snack (or meal) that also brightens a table.

Decorating food tables with food is something I know about having planned hundreds of parties at Mediterranean cuisine restaurants.

And my humble start began creating catered events in American hotels, so making food at home brings it all full circle.

I have history with ceviche that was a hip trend in my catering days that went along with tapas (small plates).

I remember the Spanish restaurant I was at had a menu as big as Cheesecake Factory’s menu (without all the ad pages 😊).

And while I didn’t see ceviche on the menu often, Rosa Mexicano at National Harbor in the DC area was my go-to.

They crushed ripe avocados at your table to make fresh guacamole.

And what’s more exciting than fresh foods… that you can make yourself at home for very little cost! Tasty fresh guac is only a few fresh ingredients.

Avocados are the star and waiting for them to ripen faster is the hardest part if there is any. You can leave at warmer room temperatures on those efforts.

And also place next to other ripe fruit and/or a closed brown paper bag to speed up.

The beauty is perfectly fresh soft/ripe avocado has a short shelf-life of a day or two. A lot like cilantro.

For guacamole with a bite and for your ceviche, you want to use fresh cilantro. If you don’t like cilantro as some don’t, you can use fresh dill or parsley.

And for an unforgettable ceviche, you can lean on the trifecta ingredient effect of: red onions, cilantro (or fresh culinary herb), and lime juice.

If you finely chop the onions, they will be a delight in the melange.

Then you can add supporting healthy food ingredients and enhanced flavors. Like radishes, oranges, and tarragon herb spice added.

This is not a wimpy ceviche.

It’s for foodie tastes, and Chipotle healthy food sensibilities.

And saving the best for last: the protein seafood item.

Seafood is healthy lean protein with zinc that impacts immunity and metabolism, and Omega 3s for optimizing the health of vital organs (heart, brain, and eye health).

It’s an anti-inflammatory category of foods.

You can store seafood (and fish) in the freezer until you’re ready to use.

Shrimp can be one of those staple freezer bags.

One you can bring out anytime and cook up to enjoy with homemade shrimp cocktail sauce (no ketchup). Squid and Old Bay scallops are also a favorite you can pair with your ceviche.

I’m biased about the Old Bay seafood spice blend because I’m from that Delmarva area that douses Old Bay (that’s not an Old Spice deodorant) on everything savory. It’s in the  water’s air. And I even douse on my ceviche.

To reel in the ocean-y ceviche appetizer to green land, I added asparagus spears and cilantro stalks. It’s now a salad.

And I made additional ceviche salad with oranges so it’s a tropical salad. Notice the salt rim that’s just too martini glass good.

Ready to make this?