Grilled Squid Salad

Grilled Squid Salad

I love “well cooked” (not seafood flavored rubber) squid and octopus. Its yummy as fried Calamari or a Paella ingredient. I came across this one in the NYT Cooking thing and thought that it sounded like a really good start and added my own magic to the mix. Also they included excellent instructions on how to properly clean a whole squid. But often they fishmonger will clean them for you. Just ask.

 

Ingredients:

2-4 Fresh Squid (2lbs?)
1 Cup Mojo Criollo
3 Tbs olive oil, divided (one for grilling, two for salad)
2 Tbs capers
1/2 cup of key lime juice (or lemon juice if you prefer)
2 cloves Garlic
1/2 tsp of Tajin spice
1 cup parsley
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 small red onion, sliced very thin and separated
Leaf Lettuce or any other favorite greens
Salt and Pepper

Directions:

  1. Clean Squid. Squid are best and certainly cheapest if you buy them whole. To clean them, cut each one in half just below the eyes, separating the tentacles from the head and setting them aside. Then hold the body gently with your non-dominant hand, and use the other to pull out the head, ink sac and intestines, followed by the clear skeleton, which will slide out like a straw. Move to the sink and rub at the skin of the squid until it comes up a little and you can grasp it. Peel it off and rinse the body and tentacles. This takes about four minutes total, and is very satisfying.
  2. Pat dry and put squid into a large ziplock bag. Add Mojo Criollo sauce and move the squid in the bag till every thing is coated. Refrigerate for 4-8 hours. Take out squid for grilling and discard Mojo Criollo.
  3. In a medium bowl mix tomatoes, onions, drained capers, key lime juice, olive oil, garlic, Tajin. and parsley all together.
  4. Preheat Grill on high for 15 minutes.
  5. Place cleaned squid on a seafood grate on grill. Grill them fast over high heat, until they’re just charred and tender
  6. Slice bodies into rings and rough chop tentacles and add to veggie mix and coat with juices
  7. Toss gently with your favorite greens and serve with good bread and wine.