Squid Salad

Name: Squid Salad with Fresh Vegetables — Warm Seafood Salad Recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Cleaned squid tubes 2; Salad greens (butterhead, frisée, romaine, etc.) 1 bunch; Tomato 1; Cucumber 1; Sweet onion 1; Black olives 10–12; Olive oil 3–4 tbsp; Salt, oregano to taste

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30 mins

What goes into a squid salad?

For 2 servings of warm squid salad you need 2 squid tubes, a bunch of salad greens, a tomato, a cucumber, a sweet onion and 10–12 black olives. The squid is sliced into thin rings and fried for 2–3 mins over high heat in 3–4 tbsp of olive oil. That warm oil is the dressing: there is no mayonnaise in the salad.

I decided to make a squid salad and remembered that, when I talk with friends, more and more often they ask me for a few recipes for simple salads — not too high in calories, but tasty. I get it: diets and all the other complications. Then again, food that is too rich isn’t good even for healthy people.

So, salads. It is commonly thought that a salad is a cold dish. Not always. There are loads of warm salads, and even hot ones. I remember we once tried a wonderful warm Provençal lentil salad. Or a superb seafood salad served on a heated platter: fried squid and octopus, shrimp and scallops with grilled vegetables and greens.

A salad is always dressed with either a sauce or oil. Vinegar, wine or citrus juice often go in too. It is almost always salted, unless it’s a fruit or dessert salad. A salad is a starter that goes perfectly with a shot (or two) of something strong at the start of a meal. Though for me, as someone who drinks very little, a better starter is one or two small hot peppers stuffed with garlic and dill and lightly marinated in wine — a hot pepper appetizer.

Historically, the most popular salad here is Olivier salad, a very filling starter that is perfect for long feasts. Then again, Olivier can hardly be called a starter — it is closer to a main course. You can eat so much of it that you never make it to the meat.

Diet salads, though, not overloaded with fat and calories, are a topic of their own. As a rule, I always say that any salad of fresh vegetables, or anything like a Greek salad, fits dietary aspirations just fine. At one point we changed our way of eating radically, practically cutting out fatty meat, high-calorie ingredients and so on. And we didn’t regret it.

Without going into the finer points, the nearest supermarket, for example, has plenty: green leaf lettuce, romaine, iceberg, frisée, butterhead, oak leaf, cress, endive, arugula and so on. Leaf colors range from bright green to brownish purple, the taste from neutral to slightly bitter — take your pick.

Simple dishes are usually built on green salad leaves. Here “green salad” is a catch-all name for quite a large number of green plants that look somewhat alike. The simplest green salad starter is just lettuce mixed with vegetables and mayonnaise, which I don’t like. But, as it turns out, if you use a little imagination and make a mussel salad, or better yet a squid salad — combining greens with warm seafood and dressing it with olive oil — the taste is amazing.

Squid salad — a warm starter of pan-fried squid with fresh vegetables, salad leaves, olives and olive oil

Ingredients

2 servings

Cleaned squid tubes 2
Salad greens (butterhead, frisée, romaine, etc.) 1 bunch
Tomato 1
Cucumber 1
Sweet onion 1
Black olives 10–12
Olive oil 3–4 tbsp
Salt, oregano to taste

Step-by-step recipe

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Preparing the salad leaves

When choosing salad greens, keep in mind that some can be slightly bitter — frisée, endive, arugula, for example. Personally, I really like a light bitterness, so I don’t use any special tricks. You can take all the ingredients in any amount you like, but it’s best if the salad greens make up about half.

Wash the leaves very thoroughly under running water. Remove any damaged parts.
If the lettuce happens to be a little wilted, put it in cold water for 1–2 hours, then wash it.

Pat the leaves dry with a paper towel or kitchen towel. By the way, the fewer drops left on the leaves, the better.
Do not (!) cut salad leaves with a knife. They release their juice right away and you end up with soup. It’s better to tear them by hand, pinching pieces off a whole leaf with your fingers. Don’t grab a bunch of leaves and tear chunks off them either — better to tear one leaf at a time, it won’t take long.
Tear the salad leaves into a deep bowl.

Frying the squid

Slice the cleaned squid tubes crosswise into thin rings.
Heat all the olive oil in a frying pan.
Fry the squid rings over high heat, stirring constantly. Frying time is 2–3 mins, otherwise you’ll get hair ties. Squid meat is pure protein, so it cooks very quickly.

Assembling the salad

Peel the sweet onion and cut it into thin strips.

Peel the fresh cucumber and cut it into thin slices: fairly large, but thin.
Slice a ripe tomato the same way, preferably not overripe.
Put all the vegetables on top of the salad leaves, salt and sprinkle with a pinch of dried oregano. Surprisingly, oregano goes wonderfully with vegetable salads.
Toss everything and let it stand for 3–4 mins so the salt dissolves.
Lay the fried squid rings on top and drizzle with the oil left from frying. The squid and oil will still be warm, but not hot.
Add whole pitted black olives and toss.
Divide the salad among plates and serve right away.
Squid salad with salad leaves and fresh vegetables should be slightly warm — don’t chill it.

Calories and macros

470 kcal

Serving ≈ 470 g

Protein34 g29% of kcal
Fat30 g58% of kcal
Carbs15 g13% of kcal

100 g101 kcalProtein 7.2 gFat 6.4 gCarbs 3.3 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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To Get It Right

Which leaves to use

Supermarkets have plenty to choose from: green lettuce, romaine, iceberg, frisée, butterhead, oak leaf, cress, endive, arugula. Leaf colour ranges from bright green to brownish-purple, taste from neutral to slightly bitter — take your pick.

How to prepare the squid

If the tubes aren’t cleaned, pour boiling water over them for 3–4 minutes, cool them in cold water and peel off the dark outer skin by hand — that’s how I do it for squid rings in batter.

Swaps

Readers make it like this too:

large shrimp instead of squid, plus a little parsley;
no olives, but with sesame seeds and cherry tomatoes;
with green olives and soy sauce instead of salt.

No mayonnaise

The dressing here is the olive oil left from frying the squid, salt and oregano. I have plenty of other salads without mayonnaise, for example Greek salad.

Have your own trick for this recipe?

Questions and answers

How long should you boil squid for a salad?

In this salad the squid isn’t boiled but fried: the rings take 2–3 minutes over high heat in olive oil, and that oil then goes into the dressing. Boiled squid also needs only a short time — long cooking makes it tough.

What goes well with squid?

Salad leaves with a light bitterness, fresh cucumber and tomato, sweet onion, black olives, olive oil and a pinch of oregano. Greens with warm seafood taste amazing.

What is a classic squid salad?

A classic squid salad is often made with boiled squid, egg and mayonnaise. My version is warm and light: fried squid, fresh vegetables and leaves dressed with olive oil.

Can you make squid salad ahead of time?

Better not: the salad is served right away, slightly warm. You can wash and dry the leaves in advance and fry the squid just before serving — it takes 2–3 minutes.

How many calories are in squid salad?

About 90 kcal per 100 g: there’s no mayonnaise, just vegetables, greens, squid and olive oil.

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