Mini Meal Plan: Shrimp Ceviche
Ceviche Yucateco and Shrimp Quesadillas: Cook Once... Eat Twice
Try this stellar Ceviche and use the leftovers to make flavorful and easy quesadillas.
With Mini Meal Plans, you cook once for two different and delicious dinners. The Mini Meal Plan uses the leftover main ingredient from one night's dinner to make an entirely different dinner one other night that week. The Mini Meal Plan provides you the tools to formulate a personalized fabulous meal plan that works for you and your family. Visit the more than 40 other great Mini Meal Plan recipes at Mini Meal Plan: Cook Once.... Eat Twice.
Ceviche is a deliciously zesty seafood dish with origins in South America. In its basic form, it is raw seafood including white fish fillets and shellfish, that is "cooked" in lime juice, as the citric acid in the lime juice virtually pickles the fish. Onions and hot peppers are common additions, but extra ingredients vary greatly among the South and Central American regions who now claim various styles of Ceviche as their own. When Ceviche's popularity traveled north to Central America, its manner of being served went from with corn or potatoes, as favored by their Southern neighbors, to being enjoyed on tortilla chips. With the style that is now known as Yucateco traditionally containing avocado and some type of Mexican-style pepper.
This recipe calls for using just shrimp for the Ceviche base as unlike other fish, it holds up well for another night's dinner. The balance of sweet/spicy peppers, red onion and avocado round out the flavor sensation of this Yucateco-style Ceviche. Use the leftover Ceviche to make some incredibly easy-to-make (it's leftovers after all) quesadillas. And with the intense flavor that comes from the Ceviche marinating in salt, onion and lime juice, the flavor in these quesadillas is out of this world.
Meal 1: Ceviche Yucateco
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. shrimp, shelled and deveined
- Fresh squeezed juice of 8 limes
- 1 red onion, diced
- ¼ cup diced cilantro
- 3 medium habaneros or 10 banana pepper rings, diced
- 2 avocados, diced
- 2 tablespoons salt
- Tortilla chips
Butterfly shrimp and dice into small pieces. Place in a baking dish. Top with salt, lime juice and onion. Marinate at least 3 hours, and up to overnight. The citric acid pickles or "cooks" the fish without the need for heat. Add avocado, cilantro and peppers just before serving. Serve chilled with tortillas chips, over lettuce or with rice.
Meal 2: Shrimp Quesadillas
Ingredients
- Leftover Ceviche
- 8 large tortillas
- 2 cups Cheddar/jack or Chihuahua cheese
On each of four tortillas, spread ½ cup cheese and top with leftover Ceviche. Top with remaining tortillas. Warm in pan on stove or quesadilla maker. Serve with sour cream, guacamole and/or salsa as desired.
