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One step, one step, I stop, I take one breath, one breath. Warm sun above, white snow below, I breathe, I take one step, one step. ~ Rosemary Wahtola Trommer from “Climbing the Ridge.”
How to make Calamari Steak Salad
Step one: Marinate. Drizzle your calamari steaks with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and whatever herb you have on hand. I had thyme.
If unfamiliar, Calamari steaks, are basically the round cylindrical body of a very large squid, sliced open and flattened out, and trimmed into steaks.
Step two: Steam baby potatoes.
Step three: Make the Preserved Lemon Vinaigrette. Preserved lemons, most commonly used in Moroccan and Indian cooking, are basically lemons that have been cured ( or preserved) in salt and lemon juice.
They are ridiculously easy to make at home, but require a little bit of time, about 14 days.
If you are interested in making your own, look at this easy Preserved Lemon Recipe.
Step four: Thinly slice onion, and cut the bell pepper in half.
Step five: Grill or use a Grill pan.
Grill the bell pepper, onion, steamed potatoes and calamari.
Tip: When grilling calamari, remember that they cook extremely fast. Just a few minutes on each side, until the flesh becomes opaque.
Calamari tastes the best right off the grill so be sure to time everything so that the calamari is one of the last steps. Thinly slice and drizzle with a little vinaigrette.
These tiny little cuts on the calamari were put there to keep the calamari from curling on the grill. If your steaks don’t come with these, then add some with a sharp knife.
Once grilled assemble the salad.
Step Six: Toss arugula with onions, peppers and baby potatoes and enough dressing to lightly coat.
Divide among plates. Top with grilled calamari.
Hope you like this Grilled Calamari Steak Salad!
On the homefront: New Zealand was a place of wonder. Never have I seen so many beautiful geological oddities in one small geographical location.
While in New Zealand, Brian planned a little “spur of the moment” hike for us. I’m writing it here so I remember it, always. “Just a hill”, Brian said, that one sunny morning. Brian is a climber. He likes big rocks and mountains and volcanoes and is quick and sure-footed as a mountain goat. I am more like a sheep. I like hills. But I prefer to meander up them, inspecting flowers, trees and bugs along the way, not really caring if I ever get to the top. But with Brian, I try to keep up as best I can, often herded along by our dog Max.
Eventually, I was too exhausted even to think. It takes energy to think, and there just wasn’t any to spare. There was a brief period of time where I just sort of disappeared. I can’t explain it any other way, but I was gone.
It felt as if, I was the mountain itself, the rain, the mist, the earth, the rock, the scrubby brush, the bird flying overhead. It didn’t last long, but for those few minutes, I felt so utterly at peace. Clear. Like everything was exactly and perfectly as it should be. Inarticulate beauty. Those few moments were my favorite part of the whole month in New Zealand.
I was hesitant to make this as Ive never cooked calamari before. It was outstanding! The dressing is to die for.