I have to admit – I’ve never actually eaten ceviche before. BUT, I’ve been to enough Latin American restaurants and seen my middle sister eat it enough (she lives in Miami) to have a sense of what it might taste like. It always looked like a cross between an Indian koshumbri (Kannada for cold side Indian “salad”) and a tuna tartare to me. And I know the general flavor profile of koshumbri include something leafy/fresh, something spicy, something slightly sweet, and definitely tons of texture. So after doing some research and using my foodie instinct, I created a super simple Watermelon Ceviche.

I frikken LOVE watermelon. I don’t understand people who don’t like it (ehem, my dad, ehem). I can definitely see how it can be considered boring, but that just means there is so much opportunity to do cool things with! So, instead of making my usual watermelon juice, frozé, or eating it whole like the savage I am (welcome to my butcher shop folks), I made this ceviche! You should make it this weekend or really ANY hot summer day! It is so good and tastes even better the next day, because all those delicious flavors seep into the watermelon. NOMZ!!

Watermelon Ceviche:

• 2 cups cubed watermelon
• 2 whole limes – squeezed of all juice
• 2 whole stalks scallion – sliced
• 1 jalapeño – minced
• handful of fresh coriander – roughly chopped plus whole leaves for garnish
• 1/2 English cucumber – diced same size as watermelon
• zest from 1 lime
• 2-3 tbsp good extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 flour tortillas
• cooking spray

1. Place watermelon in a large bowl. Add in fresh lime juice, mix, and let sit for at least 15-20 minutes. This allows the lime juice to absorb into the watermelon, break it down a bit, and balance out the sweetness.

2. Make the tortillas. In a nonstick skillet, spray with cooking spray and place over medium high flame. Once hot, add in the tortilla. It’ll start forming bubbles, so just use your knife to carefully poke a few holes so it flattens. Toast on each side for about 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Remove and cut into chips. Set aside to cool.

3. In a separate large shallow bowl, mix together scallions, jalapeños, coriander, cucumber, lime zest, black pepper, a large pinch of kosher salt and olive oil.

4. Add watermelon to the cucumber mixture, straining from the remaining lime juice mixture. Combine well, taste to make sure there is enough salt. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves. Serve with homemade chippers!