Grilled Calamari Salad

If you’re a fan of calamari, and if you like to experiment on the grill, I highly recommend you give this recipe a try. It’s very simple and quick to prepare, and looks really impressive when plated on a bed of fresh spring mix salad. I guarantee that when you serve this to your friends, you’ll come off like a rock star.

You’ll use about 30-40 1″ thick calamari rings for this dish, which comes out to about 8-10 calamari tubes thinly sliced. You can also use pre-sliced calamari rings, which can often be found in the frozen seafood section of your grocery store. I usually only use the body of the calamari for this dish, but you can also use the tentacles if you like.

GRILLED CALAMARI SALAD

Ingredients
30-40 1″ clamari rings (which is about 8-10 calamari bodies sliced)
1 red bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
1 green bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 tspn kosher salt
zest and juice of one lemon
1 tspn fresh chopped basil
1 tspn fresh chopped mint
*optional – 1/2 tspn peperoncino flakes for a little spice
spring mix salad

Directions
Place dried calamari rings and chopped peppers into a bowl. Mix remaining ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour half of the liquid mix over the calamari, reserving the remaining mixed liquid. Toss calamari and peppers to coat, let marinate for about a half an hour. In the meantime, fire up your grill and get it nice and hot (you want to cook this at about 400º). After the calamari and peppers are done marinating, you’ll want to pour them into a grill tray or grill wok, placed over direct heat. The calamari and peppers will sizzle when first added to the grill. Mix everything up well and then close the lid, checking and mixing every few minutes. You’ll want to grill for about 15-20 minutes, until the calamari are tender and golden brown. Carefully remove one piece of calamari and taste for desired texture. When done to your likeness, carefully remove the entire mixture from the grill. Spread the grilled mixture over a bed of spring mix salad, drizzle with the remaining dressing. Sprinkle with a little fresh grated parmesan cheese and some fresh black pepper.