Photo by Capt. Nate Skinner

This no-cook fish dish is the embodiment of summertime

The perfect snack for the dog days of summer must be light and flavorful, in my opinion.

Enter ceviche. This dish involves using the acid from freshly squeezed lime juice to modify the structure of proteins in fish fillets, essentially cooking them without using a source of heat. For a skeptical few, it might sound too fishy, but I assure you, it’s far from it.

Upon dousing chunks of fresh speckled trout meat with lime juice, one can actually watch the raw fish cook and turn an opaque white in a matter of minutes. Simply add an array of vegetables, spices and fruits to increase the flavor and you’re all set.

Plainly put, ceviche is the embodiment of summertime in one bite, and a scoop of it on a saltine cracker is hard to beat. It goes great with chips or wrapped in a tortilla as well, and I’d be willing to bet it’s not too bad on a crispy piece of toast. Serve with a cold beer or a chilled, crisp white wine, and get ready to let the blend of citrus, spices and fruity flavors satisfy your palate.

Tropical Ceviche

Fresh speckled trout (or other type of fish) fillets

Limes

Tomatoes

Onion

Cilantro

Green bell peppers

Jalapeño peppers

Mangoes

Salt

Pepper

Dice or cut the fish fillets into half-inch pieces and place them in a glass or ceramic dish. Slice the limes in half and squeeze their juice over the small pieces of fish until all of it is covered thoroughly with lime juice. Cover the dish with a lid or plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to marinate.

While the fish is marinating, dice up all of the vegetables, peppers and mangoes into small pieces. Remove the seeds from peppers if you prefer the final product not to be spicy.

Add the diced vegetables, peppers and mangoes to the dish in which the pieces of fish are marinating. Salt and pepper to taste, and then stir all the ingredients in the dish thoroughly.

By this time, you should see that the consistency of the fish has changed to more of a cooked state. You can let it marinate in the refrigerator with the other ingredients longer, if you would like it to cook more. After about 30 minutes of marinating in lime juice, the fish is usually ready to eat.

Serve with crackers, chips or tortillas.