If you’re like me, you love yourself some Mexican food. The beans.. the rice… The drinks… The chips and salsa and the atmosphere. Well kind of, these days going to a restaurant doesn’t sound a much fun any more. Battling crowds and hungry children, that always devour the Pico multiple times before their entre actually arrives.
I have been making Pico De Gallo for a few years now. Thanks to my mama, who makes the best Mexican food ever! One of the best things about this recipe is that it’s really easy to make a head, the flavor just gets better, and you can make it as spicy as you want! Another absolutely amazing plus is that with a few extra ingredients you can have some extremely yummy homemade ceviche.
Now some people get a little weirded out about the ceviche because you know… Raw fish. The recipe I use, uses imitation crap and salad shrimp. Stuff you can eat raw without worry. You can use the real stuff like scallops and other varieties of shrimp if you like, the lime juice and salt cooks it for you! My method also saves a few bucks, because bigger shrimp and scallops can get pretty spendy really quickly.
This recipe is great for football games, bbqs, fiesta nights, or just because. When I make it, there usually isn’t any left over, and if there is, it’s gone the next day.
Enough with the chit chat.. let’s get down to it! The recipe for pico is the base for ceviche so we will just build up from there. This is also going to be a recipe for a family or a party, I will make the conversions for you!
Ingredients:
- Roma tomatoes (5 for family 10-15 depending on how big of a party)
- Onion (1 medium for families and 1 lg and 1 small for parties)
- Jalepeño (1/2 for families 1 1/ for parties *or more depending on how much spice you like*)
- Cilantro (1/2 – 1 bunch for families 2 bunches for parties)
- Limes (2 small for families 5 small for parties)
- Salt to taste
I start by dicing the tomatoes first and getting those into a good sized bowl. Next the onions get diced and thrown into the same bowl. Then the jalepeño, remove the stem and seeds (leave them in for extra heat!) Dice it up and toss it in the bowl. A friendly reminder though, don’t touch your eyeballs, nose, mouth, or any area you don’t want to burn like hell. Wash your hands and then chop up the cilantro and get that in with the other stuff, squeeze the fresh lime juice over everything, salt to taste and mix well. Refrigerate until you are ready to chow down!
Extras for ceviche:
- Salad shrimp
- Imitation crab
- Cucumber
- Avocado
- Tomato juice (optional)
The steps for this are pretty easy, peel and dice the cucumber and avocado and toss that in, chop the “crab” and dump that in, get the shrimp in there add a little extra salt and lime juice, add the tomato juice if that’s your thing and some pepper (my sister Ashley does this) mix well and refrigerate.
Enjoy!!
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