Cajun Shrimp Lettuce Wraps & Salmon Ceviche

As part of the seafood extravaganza, I made quite a few dishes but these two stood out as the favorites of what I made! My original thoughts for the night included a fried shrimp po'boy but concerns over my ever expanding waist line and wanting something a bit fresher tasting over a heavy fried shrimp I kept the main idea but changed my execution. I kept the cajun spice flavors on the shrimp and the all-important creamy remoulade sauce but dropped the roll in favor of a leaf of Boston lettuce.   For my recipe, follow the link at the bottom of the post.

The salmon ceviche was my first attempt at this South American classic. While versions are served in many countries south of the border, I think that Peru is probably the most famous for it. I think that one of my first encounters with ceviche is at a restaurant in NYC called Sushi Samba which blends traditional sushi dishes with South American flavors for an exciting fusion cuisine. I took a look online to see if there was anything that matched up to what I had eaten there and serious eats had posted a recipe! I followed this recipe pretty closely but instead of making lox-like slices with the salmon I cubed it to make it easier for eating and added avocado as suggested in the comments.

Cajun Shrimp Lettuce Wraps (ie a fresh and healthier version of a po'boy)

12 jumbo shrimp
1 tbsp old bay seasoning
1 tbsp cajun spices 
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp tumeric
1/8 tsp all spice
salt & pepper

12 leaves Boston Lettuce
12 slices tomato

1) Toss all of the spices together and coat the shrimp
2) Cook in the broiler for 3-6 min - flip 1/2 way into cooking time

to assemble:
Place a leaf of lettuce on a plate and top with a tomato slice. Add 3 shrimp and a spoon full of remoulade sauce. Top with finely diced cilantro and a slice of lime.

for the remoulade sauce, I added some cilantro to my standard sauce from my soft shell crab po'boy