Scallop Ceviche Lettuce Cups
We have been in search of the best summer recipes out there and the first thing that popped into our minds was scallops (they are abundant in Nantucket and fresh as can be). Ceviche is a fantastic way to highlight beautifully fresh shellfish, avoid using a hot grill during this already toasty summer, and spoil a few lucky guests. We found and adapted this recipe from the Manhattan Food Project (author Elizabeth) who had herself lightly adapted it from Ina Garten’s recipe. Ours is a bit different from both - going for Mexican flavoring (coriander, lime, sweet corn etc.). This is a great way to start trying out ceviche recipes or get acquainted with scallops (it’s actually easier than trying to sear them). There’s something so ultra refreshing about this dish and it’s 100% guaranteed to impress your guests. The zesty lime, crunchy vegetables, spicy jalapeno and velvety lettuce all work together to deliver the perfect summer dish! This tickets all of our boxes for the perfect summer recipe. It’s beginner friendly and requires very little active time, it uses and highlights local ingredients, it’s super healthy and refreshing, and lastly, it’s definitely Pretty Feed worthy when plated! This is an absolute winner. Can’t wait to try this with fresh shrimp and a mango salsa!
Active time: 20 minutes; Inactive time: 1 hour; Total time: 1 hour and 20 minutes
Serves: 2 as a main course or 4 as an appetizer
Ingredients
¾ pound of bay scallops
¾ cup pf lime juice (divided: ½ cup for marinade and ¼ cup for the vinaigrette)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 hothouse cucumber - diced
3 scallions - thinly sliced
1 red pepper - diced
1 Hass avocado - diced
2 ears of sweet corn - shucked
½ cup shallots
1 ½ tablespoons of jalapeno pepper
¼ cup fresh coriander
1 ½ teaspoons fresh garlic
olive oil
1 squirt of sriracha sauce
a head of bibb lettuce (or Boston lettuce) - to serve
Instructions
In a non-reactive bowl (see note below for detail), allow your scallops to marinate in a ½ cup of fresh lime juice and a dash of salt and pepper.
Shake up the scallops every 15 minutes to make sure they are all well coated.
While the scallops marinate, you can wash and chop your vegetables. Make sure you chop everything nice and small and that everything is roughly the same size. This will make your presentation look flawless!
In a large pot of salted boiling water, blanch corn for 1 minute, remove, let cool and cut kernels off the cob.
Combine the corn, shallots, bell pepper, coriander, jalapeno, and garlic in a medium bowl.
Separately, whisk together the remaining 1/4 cup lime juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and the Sriracha. Pour over the vegetables and toss well to coat.
Carefully wash your lettuce leaves and wrap them in paper towel to dry so they are ready when you are. Put everything in the fridge while your scallops sit.
Once 60 minutes is up, you are ready to plate! Remove the scallops from the marinade with a slotted spoon or a fork and add them to your vegetables, tossing carefully but well to combine.
Put your lettuce leaves on the place and spoon the ceviche into the lettuce cups.
Top with coriander and serve immediately.