You can buy shrimp at the West Broadway Farmers Market, although you might not want to do so right before a storm takes out power for two days.
That was precisely the dilemma I was faced with last weekend. I had this great shrimp, but no way to cook it and no place to keep it fresh. Sure, I could have used a lighter to heat up my gas-powered stove top. Or I could have brought the shellfish to a friend's house for temporary safekeeping. Instead, I decided to make an adventure out of this situation and also a test of faith to see if God Wanted Me To Contract Salmonella. (He didn't, apparently.)
Ceviche, for the uninitiated, is a way to cook seafood without actually cooking it. The acidity from citrus juices acts as a cooking agent for the meat and makes it safely edible. As an added bonus, it is carbohydrate free, lactose free, gluten free (I think; I'm not really sure what gluten is), it doesn't contain red meat or pork, it's not cooked, and it can be made without shellfish if one so desires. It's basically a dish that can be prepared in a way that meets the standards of almost any dietary fad and offends no one. Except vegans. And Ted Nugent. Anything that ticks off both has got to be delicious, right?
So I prepared the ceviche and then stored some in my freezer and a little bit in the fridge to keep me tided over during the blackout. Everything in this recipe was found either at the West Broadway Farmers Market, the Broadway Cub, or my own backyard garden. The herbs from my garden are not traditional ceviche seasonings, but they were what I had available. And just because you might want to copy my recipe, don't think you can come by and take the herbs from my house. You'll have to buy them from the market's aggregate table.
To make "Blackout Ceviche," you take...
