I have a difficult time talking myself into making ceviche at home. Even though we’re not far from the coast here in Columbia, South Carolina, it is quite difficult to source fresh, wild ceviche-makin’ seafood. Insert lightbulb overhead. Why don’t I just pre-cook some seafood like shrimp and scallops, chill it and then make the tasty “broth” to go with. Wonder if you can tell the difference, we sure couldn’t.

How would you like a fish that tastes like crab, cooks quickly but isn’t finicky about being cooked perfectly and is very affordable? BAM! I have found it…it’s called skate wing. Wild skate wing, $3.99 a pound at Whole Foods! I thought, this is just a sale. Go back to a different Whole Foods, (months later, as we do not have a Whole Foods in Columbia, and go there every few months to stockpile their wild seafood) and it’s the same exact price!

This fish deserves two paragraphs of copy. It’s a flat fish with lots of meat on both sides. So it’s like a 2-for-1 kind of deal. The meat forks off like string cheese. The “bones” look more like fingers. It’s quite odd, but it’s a very tender texture with a crab-like, delicate taste. I hope, if you ever see it in the seafood case, you give it a try. The two skate wings pictured above weighed around 2.5 lbs total and were kept in the freezer for about a month before we cooked them.

Ingredients

• 3T + 2T fat
• 2 skate wings
• S&P
• 1/2 lb. fresh spinach
• 3-5 gloves garlic, finely chopped

Method

In a saute pan over medium high heat, melt about 3 T fat. Pat the skate wings dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with S&P. Place the wing in the pan and saute for about 7 minutes, flip once you see a little bit of color and saute on the other side. You shouldn’t see any pink or redness, if you do, cook it longer.

For the spinach, use the same saute pan and saute the garlic in about 2 T melted fat. Add the spinach all at once and let it sit for about 2-3 minutes. Then use some tongs or a spatula to turn it over so the fresh spinach gets wilted. This should take less than 10 minutes.

Maybe I’m not the first one to think of this. I know a quick Google search would likely show me that I’m not, but I just don’t want to know. Seems like everyone has thought of almost all of my ‘AH-HA’ moments. Regardless, this was inspired by a lack of things fresh in the fridge. This is a pantry meal if I’ve ever seen one. Every ingredient is jarred or canned and bought at the good old grocery store. Perhaps you’d say it’s not very “whole” or “from the ground” but heck, sometimes you need dinner in 10 minutes.

Ingredients

2 cans tuna packed in olive oil, flaked with a fork

1/2 7 oz. can of artichoke hearts, roughly chopped

1/2 c kalamata olives, about 15 or so

1/2 c roasted red peppers, chopped

1/4 c – 1/3 c store bought pesto sauce

Method

Combine all ingredients and serve. Easy, huh?

Groots are our take on grits, Paleo style. It’s celery root, hence the g-roots, pureed with a little fat and some stock. Oh how creamy, dreamy it is. It has a slight celery flavor, but a texture similar to creamy grits. All you non-Southerners out there, grits are ground up corn–prepared like rice, but takes literally 5 minutes to cook–think polenta.

Ingredients

• 1 lb peeled, deveined shrimp
• 2 medium sized celery roots
• 1/2 c chicken, beef or veggie stock
• 6 slices bacon
• 1/2 onion
• 2 gloves garlic
• 1 T tomato paste
• 1 T chili garlic sauce (any other hot sauce will do)
• 2 oz cheese (optional)
• 1 T minced thyme
• S&P

Method

Cut the ends off the celery roots and slice the skin off (see pics). Slice the root into 1/3′s, then rotate and slice into thick sticks, then slice into rough squares. Toss the roots into a pot of salted water and boil until softened, about 10 minutes. Get out your blender and place the roots inside, along with the stock, cheese and 2 T of bacon fat from the saute pan (see below). Pulse until you reach a smooth consistency. Stir it around and/or add more stock if the mixture isn’t cooperating. S&P to your liking.

Cook your bacon in a saute pan. Once it’s browned, remove the bacon and crumble. Add the onion and garlic to the pan. Saute until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the shrimp, tomato paste, thyme, crumbled bacon and hot sauce. Cook until the shrimp have turned pink.

Place the “groots” into a bowl, add shrimp, crumbled bacon and many, many spoonfuls of the tomato gravy.

Take the fried corn shell out of the dish and it tastes just as good, if not better. Like most salads, this recipe requires a good amount of chopping, but that’s about the extent of the work!

Ingredients for Spice Rub

• 1/4 t garlic powder & salt
• 1/2 t cumin, onion & smoked paprika
• 1 t chili powder
• 1 lb. Mahi Mahi or other firm fleshed fish (Tilapia, Orange Roughy, etc.)

Ingredients for Salad

• 3 limes, juiced
• 2 T pickled jalapenos, finely chopped
• 1 t honey
• 1/2 red pepper, finely chopped
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 1 mango, peeled, cored and finely chopped
• handful of cilantro, chopped
• 1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped

Method

For the rub, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl. Place the fish on a plate and pat both sides dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the rub evenly on each piece of each side of the fish. Rub in the mixture with your fingers. Grill or saute the fish, on high, for about 4 minutes on each side.

For the salad, combine all the ingredients and stir to mix together.

In the South, this dish is very popular. Except, it never tastes like anything. So, we’ve added some carmelized leeks to kick up the flavor. We’ve also removed the red potatoes and replaced them with sweet potatoes, and removed the sausage and replaced them with mushrooms.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. shrimp, peeled & deveined
• 2 sweet potatoes, chopped and skins on
• 8 oz. mushrooms
• 2 leeks, sliced & washed really well
• 2 T olive oil or butter or coconut oil
• 2 t + 2 T Old Bay

Method

Fill a large pot with water. Add the sweet potatoes and boil until they’re tender all the way through. While the sweet potatoes are cooking, add the leeks, 2t Old Bay and 2 glugs of oil into a saute pan. Cook on medium heat until the leeks have browned, about 12 minutes.

Once the sweet potatoes are almost done cooking, add the mushrooms to the water and let them cook for about 5 minutes. Next, add the shrimp. Don’t overcook the shrimp! Once they’ve turned pink, they’re done.

Place a strainer in your sink and pour out the water and the sweet potatoes, shrooms and shrimp. Shake the strainer really well to remove as much water as you can. Then return the goodies to the pot.

Add the browned leeks and 1T Old Bay to the pot and toss around to coat.