Easy and delicious tuna ceviche

Hot weather makes us crave something fresh and tasty. Sadly, we are not able to go out to sit in one of our favorite restaurants to order an ice-cold beverage and a nice dish to snack on and share. If you are like me, hot weather calls for ceviche! You are probably thinking ceviche is complicated and you’re not sure about cooking fish with lime juice or how to get a fresh cut of fish or fresh shrimp to make it with. But here is a recipe that takes the guessing game out and it’s simple to make with canned tuna fish. All the ingredients are items that are most likely in your pantry and the hard work (if any) is chopping the ingredients up.

Ingredients:

(6 servings)

2 large cans of white tuna in water (or 4 regular sized cans)

3 firm tomatoes, chopped

½ onion, chopped

4 Italian cucumbers, roughly peeled and chopped

½ serrano pepper (if you like heat then add the full pepper or as many as you like)

1 small bundle of fresh cilantro (lower half of stems removed and chopped)

The juice of 8 limes

1.5 tablespoons of sea salt

1 ripe avocado, sliced (for garnish)

Preparation:

Chop all your ingredients up and combine all your vegetables and half of the lime juice and mix in a big bowl. Then add the tuna (drained with no liquid) and mix it until the big chunks break down to a smaller flaky consistency. Add the rest of the lime juice and the salt. I prefer sea salt because of the texture and its taste really enhances the flavor. Let chill in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.

When ready to serve, use tostadas and add a slice or two of avocado on the top or chips to scoop out of a nice bowl with the avocado slices on top — either way, you can’t go wrong.

For a vegetarian spin

Replace the tuna with:

4 ounces of textured soy (sold at Sprouts or Pancho Villa)

To cook the soy, you will need to boil it in 3 cups of water with:

¼ onion

1 garlic clove

1 bay leaf

Drain and let it cool. After it’s cooled, you need to squeeze the liquid out by using a cheesecloth. After you’ve removed all the liquid, add the dry mix ingredients listed above with the same quantities.