PALEO Florida smoked fish dip

I noticed an appetizer on the menu of almost every single seafood restaurant here in South Florida: Smoked Fish Dip. Typically I stay away from dips because of the tons of calories that I imagine (rightly or wrongly) are in them due to the mayo/cream cheese/etc.  But a few weeks ago, I went for it. And it was DELICIOUS.  Smoky, creamy, spicy.  I wanted more!!

And then, one Sunday morning while drinking my freshly-squeezed OJ and reading my Sunday morning newspaper (Yes, I get the paper delivered!!), I stumbled across a recipe from a Miami chef. 

Voila.  I have the base.  Now how do I transform it into a healthy PALEO Florida Smoked Fish Dip.

Well, I did.  This dip was damn good.  I wanted to eat it all in one sitting, but trust me, it And it turned out gooooood!!

Here's how I made it...

First, I chopped or minced all the required veggies (celery, red onion, pickled jalapanos, capers, cilantro), plus lemon zest and salt....

...placed them in a pretty blue mixing bowl (the blue is optional, FYI)... and then I got ready to make the PALEO mayo...

...by using an Immersion blender to beat the eggs, lemon juice and salt...

...and after 15 minutes of adding the olive oil and coconut oil in, I finally had the consistency of MAYO!!!

...next I used my hands to pull apart the smoked fish (I used smoked salmon)...

...added it to the bowl...

....then I added the PALEO mayo and folded all ingredients in...

....and voila, a creamy, messy goodness...

....which looks LOVELY on top of some sliced tomatoes or celery sticks...

...but is also delicious just by itself :)

ENJOY!

PALEO Florida smoked fish dip
Recipe slightly adapted from chef Richard Sandoval

1.25 lbs smoked swordfish (or trout, or salmon)
2/3 cup PALEO mayo
1 T cilantro, roughly chopped
1/4 cup red onion, minced
1/4 cup capers, strained, finely chopped
1/4 cup celery, minced
2 T pickled jalapenos, minced
Zest of 1 lemon
Salt to taste

1. Add all the veggies, cilantro, lemon zest and salt into a mixing bowl.
2. Hand-"shred" the smoked fish, pulling it apart into little bite-sized pieces, place in mixing bowl.
3. Make the PALEO mayo (see here - an immersion blender is also an easy way to make the mayo, have patience!)
4. Add the mayo to the mixing bowl and fold all ingredients together, mixing well but not disrupting the fish.
5. You're done.  Eat.  Try this with some crackers (if you're not PALEO), veggies (celery, carrots,  tomato slices, etc) or just eat by the spoonful, I won't judge!