Halibut Ceviche Salad

This week has been H-O-T, hot in LA!! We have been experiencing a heat wave all week, and these high temps do not look like they will be letting up anytime soon! When it is this hot out, the last thing I want to do is turn on the oven or stove, so last night I prepared a halibut ceviche salad, inspired by this recipe, but pretty much just added all the great summer ingredients that I love. I was pretty pleased with the result. We accompanied the meal with a cold glass of chardonnay, and we were able to cool off, just for a bit.

* Although the assembly of the salad is quick and easy you must plan ahead so that there is plenty of time for the fish to 'cook' in the lemon/lime marinade.

Halibut Ceviche Salad

Ceviche:

• one 10-ounce halibut fillet, skinned and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 2 large lemons)
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 3-4 large limes
• Zest of 1 large lemon
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:

• 3 green onions
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 large avocado
• 2 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 head of butter lettuce 
• Tortilla chips for garnish

Dressing:

• fresh lemon juice
• olive oil
• Salt & pepper

For the ceviche: in a glass bowl or baking dish mix together the halibut, lemon juice, lime juice, lemon zest, salt and pepper. I seasoned the halibut with salt and pepper prior to adding it to the citrus marinade.

The fruits of my labor, no pun intended :) 

Cover the dish and refrigerate for 3 hours, stirring half way through the refrigeration time to distribute the marinade. The acid from the citrus will 'cook' the fish. After three hours the fish will no longer be translucent.

For the salad pull the leaves of lettuce from the butter lettuce head, add the chopped onions, tomatoes, parsley, cilantro, and avocado. I rarely use store bought salad dressing so for this I just created a simple lemon vinaigrette with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Because the fish was marinating in citrus there is already a strong taste of lemon so use the dressing sparingly.... The dressing will also keep the avocados from turning brown.

Top the salad with the halibut ceviche, garnish with tortilla chips, and enjoy!