Not everyone’s a big fan of salad – as the saying goes, ‘you don’t make friends with salad,’ but calamari is a whole other kettle of fish. Salads can be a real missed opportunity when it comes to varying up your meals, but you can add so much to them, including your catch. When it comes to accompanying seafood, Greek salad is one of the greats.
There’s nothing like a touch of the Mediterranean, where fish are abundant and the fishers have centuries of knowledge on how to cook them, to create a superb blend of delicious cephalopods and light, fresh veggies. With tasty herbs, soft feta cheese and salty fish, no other salad gives you the same bang for your bucket.
While adding lettuce to a Greek salad is not strictly traditional (in a traditional Greek salad, purslane is used instead), the crisp crunch of the lettuce adds a textural contrast to the rest of the salad ingredients as well as adding a bright note of colour to the dish. You might also find yourself adding more ingredients to experiment or suit your own tastes (always remember, salads are flexible.)
Here’s a handy hint; if you find the flavour of raw onion not to your liking, place the sliced onion into a bowl of iced water for a few minutes to soften the oniony flavour. Before using it as an ingredient, drain the onion slices and pat them dry with a paper towel.
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
500g calamari rings
1 baby cos lettuce
1 red onion
2-3 tomatoes, cubed
1 continental cucumber
100g black olives
100g feta cheese
Salad Dressing Ingredients
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, crushed or paste
1/2 tsp dried oregano
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The ingredients for the Greek calamari salad.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy based frypan (cast iron is a good choice). Add the calamari rings to the pan and sauté for a couple of minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Spoon the cooked calamari rings onto some paper towels to drain while you assemble
Wash the baby cos lettuce whole and then shake the lettuce dry. Tear the lettuce up into small pieces and place them into your serving bowl.
Cut both ends off the onion, peel the onion and cut it into half. Cut the onion into thin slices. Separate the onion rings and add them to the bowl with the lettuce.
Cut the tomatoes up into cubes and add them to the serving bowl. Cut the cucumber into half lengthways and then slice the halves into half moon shaped slices. Add the cucumber slices to the lettuce mixture in the serving bowl. Add the black olives to the
Combine the salad dressing ingredients in a separate container. Start with the olive oil and squeeze in the juice of half a lemon.
Add the red wine vinegar, oregano and garlic. Blend the dressing well. Pour the salad dressing over the lettuce mixture in the serving bowl and mix it in gently and thoroughly.
Crumble the feta cheese into the salad. Add the sautéed calamari rings to the salad and mix through. Your salad is ready to serve.
