­­­­­A common dish in many Latin cultures ceviche is refreshing and easy-to-make. This scoop-able dish has the additional benefits of being packed with the fiber and protein that the beloved Jack-in-the-Box and the not-so-beloved Caf fail to deliver. It doesn’t require any actual cooking (the kind that requires heat) so you can prepare it in a dorm room without a kitchen.

Ingredients: Surimi shrimp or white fish radishers cucumbers tomatoes avocados onions lemons jalepeno cilantro pepper salt garlic mint tortilla chips

Meat the parents. If you use shrimp cook it beforehand or use precooked frozen shrimp. If you opt for the raw white fish it doesn’t need to be precooked because the lemon takes care of the “cooking” by pickling it. Surimi is a precooked imitation crab meat made from various kinds of white fish (they use it for the California rolls in the Caf). It’s cheap and easy to get a hold of at most grocery stores. The shredded style works well for ceviche since you’ll be scooping it up with chips.

Ad lib. Any of these ingredients can be eliminated depending on what you like. If you feel creative you can try experimenting with different ingredients to find the perfect ceviche recipe for your own taste preferences. The general idea is that you mix textures— crunchy radishes cucumbers and chips; soft and flavorful avocados tomatoes and fish. The beauty of ceviche is that no one’s is ever the same. Depending on each cook’s background and personal taste every serving comes out differently.

Chop. Cut all your ingredients into bite-sized pieces. If you’re going to eat it with chips it’s usually easier to gobble up when the pieces are pretty small. Make sure your jalepeno is cut up especially tiny in order to disperse the heat. Remember that the hottest parts of the pepper are the seeds so if you have a hard time handling spicy foods make sure to get rid of some of the seeds before putting them into the mix. Also keep in mind that the longer you let the jalepenos sit in the ceviche the hotter the entire dish gets. So while it might be the perfect amount of heat the first day the next day it might be making you reach for that glass of milk.

Mix. Dump all your ingredients into a bowl and mix them together a little using a spoon a spatula your hands or your roommate. The beauty of ceviche is that you can just use whatever you have on hand— even when it comes to utensils. 

Squeeze. Now the fun part. Find a strainer or citrus juicer and squeeze every drop of juice out of your lemons.  Beat those suckers until they’re bone dry and sprinkle over your ceviche. The end result should be fully saturated bits of veggies and fish and carpal tunnel in your hands.

Season. Mix in salt and pepper and add the garlic via garlic press. The herbs can be chopped or added in whole leaf form. If you want to add anything else that you think would pump up the flavor factor now’s the time.

Let it make marriage. Cover your bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge overnight allowing time for all the ingredients to get to know each other on a deeper marinating level. Take it out for lunch the next day and eat it with chips. Prepare your taste buds for a fiesta they won’t soon forget.