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Tuesday 21 July 2015

#ewew cooks Chargrilled Calamari Salad

After lots of 'sinful' eating binges during the Ramadhan period, I think I need to dial it down a notch and eat something a little healthier.....like a salad!  Anyway, I love salads....but not just plain greens, I like mine with a protein in it! ;)

And one that's pretty easy to whip up is my Chargrilled Calamari Salad.....for a more "atas" (high class) name or (otherwise) simply known as Squid Salad...kekeke ;)

Ever since I discovered Genting Garden's Classic Mixed Salad and used it in my previous Mixed Salad Recipe, it has been my 'go to' greens coz I get a variety of different salad leaves plus it's tripled washed...yay!

The previous bag of Classic Mixed Salad had about 6 types of greens and then I saw this one when I was at the supermarket the other day...it's a bag of Four Seasons Mix (also by Genting Garden).

This bag supposedly contains 12 types of greens (baby batavia, yellow frissee, red mignoiette, radicchio, red oak, red coral, red veined sorrel, wild rocket, lemon sorrel, land cress, red frills mustard and mizuna)....and it's triple washed (of course)!

Just out of curiosity, I checked the leaves to see if they did contain a minimum of 8 types of leaf (as claimed)...I think I managed to identify at least 7 types of salad greens in the bag (although I couldn't tell some of them apart)...anyway, it was quite a fun exercise to learn and link the different salad leaves to their names ;)

Enough of playing around with the greens...let's get down to making the salad, shall we?

Ingredients:

1/2 a 125g bag of mixed salad leaves
3 medium-sized squid
1 clove of garlic
1/4 of a small onion
Zest of 1/2 a lemon & a squeeze of lemon juice
A pinch of dried oregano
Virgin & extra virgin olive oil
Salt & black pepper

Preparation:

Clean and prep your squid.  You can leave the skin on (it's totally edible + it'll give your squid a nice presentation when cooked).  I usually do a combination of both, some with skin on and some without.  Score the underside of your squid in a criss-cross manner and cut each squid into 3 or 4 pieces.
 
Finely dice 1 clove of garlic and 1/4 of a small onion.  Zest 1/2 a lemon.

Marinate your squid with diced garlic and onion and the zest of half a lemon.  Add a pinch of dried oregano and a glug of virgin olive oil.  Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

Put your marinated squid into the fridge for at least half an hour to let the flavours amalgamate.

Method:

Pan fry your squid slices in some olive oil in a fairly hot pan to get a nice char.  Just sear the squid very quickly.  It'll take only a couple of seconds or a minute at most coz you don't want to overcook the squid or burn the garlic.  The worst thing is overcooking your squid.  Perfectly cooked squid should have a slightly firm yet tender flesh with a bouncy texture...and not rubbery.  Once the squid curls up, it's a sign that it's ready to be plated up.

Make a quick and simple vinaigrette with extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice, salt and black pepper for the salad.

Empty half a pack of the salad greens into a bowl and toss the salad with the dressing.

To serve, put your dressed salad onto a plate and top with the chargrilled squid.

And that's my simple Chargrilled Calamari Salad which makes a nice and healthy light meal for a change.

It also makes for a nice starter to a 3-course dinner party.  Or you can serve it as a side salad to your main course component.
 
Serves 1 (as a main meal) or 2 - 3 (as a starter or side salad)
 

15 comments:

  1. I want to say yums, but you know me lah, I don't like raw vegetables (which is what salad is)... Do you think it will be sacrilegious if I buy this packet of triple washed stuff and drop them in the wok for a bit with the squid? XD

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I wonder if that meant PH disagrees!

      Anyway, everyone is entitled to eat the way they want it. I don't think its sacrilegious to stir fry it but it's just a waste of good money for these fresh leaves (they aren't that cheap) and if you stir fry them it'll shrink to even less (you may need more than one bag of salad). If you don't like raw salad, you can substitute with some stir fry vegetables (those with a crunch) like bok choy, cabbage and cucumber....and then top with squid for a Chinese-style chargrilled squid salad! ;)

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  2. this looks good ... i'd like to share it as a starter, and then maybe move on a main course of more seafood! maybe curry fish? :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmm...a main course of western-style curry fish might go well with this squid salad but not our local style fish curry though :)

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  3. Oohh...that looks so good! I've never cooked squid but I might give it a go one day. I have also eaten battered deep fried squids and I love it! Should put that on the "to cook" list too hee..hee...

    ReplyDelete
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    1. I think it's way easier to have a go at sautéing squid than the messy battered deep fried squid. Yeah, put it on your "to cook" list....I'd like to see your squid dish! =)

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  4. Lovely salad! From Genting, eh? We only have Cameron's here, not much choice also...just the usual. :(

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    1. I'm not sure if it's really from Genting or just the name Genting Garden...I didn't check the producer's address on the packet.

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  5. Very tasty! Though I can't eat so much squid at one go and I prefer deep fried squid to grilled ones though of course the grilled ones are more healthy to be eaten.

    Ah, you beat me to it. I have been meaning to blog about the Four Seasons Mix by Genting Garden as I bought some a few weeks ago but always ended up eating all the leaves without taking any photo or sorting them. You took the trouble to sort them and take a photo - very good indeed.

    Which one is your favourite leave? Do you like to eat the Red Veined Sorrel with its sharp tangy flavour? I like to let my friends eat that leave and watch their reaction.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, I was just curious to see if I can find the 12 different leaves (this is the second time I've blogged about the salad leaves from Genting Garden). I like any leaves that have a tangy, tart, citrus flavour but my favourite is arugula.

      Hey, there's no who beats who when it comes to blogging as our topics will surely overlap. Put up your post and I'll still be happy to read it.

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  6. I'm always trying to eat healthy and I love those packets of salads. In Australia we have almost an entire aisle filled with different selections: 4 leaves, 7 leaves, spinach, baby spinach, rocket... it's endless. Someone sent me a link the other day however saying that these leaves are usually washed in a tonne of chemicals and so might not be as healthy as I think. Eww... it's difficult finding what IS healthy to eat these days. I guess I could go for the organic packs, but they're triple the price.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, we don't have many options for fresh salad leaves here as many locals aren't fond of them. Washed in a tonne of chemicals? Oh dear! Yeah, I would love to go for the organic stuff too but can't, on a frequent basis, because of the price :(

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