This Asian-style squid salad makes healthy eating delish

Squid is a useful “convenience” food, as it freezes well and cooks quickly; the freezing process even helps to tenderise it. In this fresh, crunchy salad, squid’s subtle flavour and meaty texture is a lovely contrast, and a punchy dressing pulls it all together.

Asian-style griddled squid salad

Serves 4

275 calories per serving

Ingredients
4 large squid tubes, cleaned
vegetable oil spray, for cooking

For the dressing
3 tbsp vegetable oil
2 lemongrass stalks, white part only and tough outer layer removed, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tbsp fish sauce
3 tbsp sweet chilli sauce
1 tbsp light soy sauce
juice of 1 lime

For the salad
2 shallots, thinly sliced
100g mixed baby leaves
2 handfuls of beansprouts
a handful of coriander leaves
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
4 sprigs of mint, leaves picked
1 long red chilli, finely sliced

To serve
sweet chilli sauce, to drizzle
lime wedges

Method
Carefully slice open each squid tube so it can lie flat, and score a lattice pattern on the softer, inner surface. Cut each one into 6 equal-sized pieces and place in a bowl.

To make the dressing, heat the oil in a small pan, add the lemongrass and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Add all the remaining ingredients and mix well. Leave to cool completely.

Add half of the dressing to the squid. Stir to coat and leave to marinate for 20 minutes.

For the salad, toss all the ingredients together in a bowl. Pour on the rest of the dressing, toss again and place on a large plate or divide between individual serving plates.

Heat a large griddle pan over a high heat. When it is smoking hot, spray with a little oil, add the squid pieces in a single layer and cook for 30 seconds on each side or until lightly charred. Depending on the size of your griddle, you may need to cook the squid in batches.

Place the griddled squid on top of the salad and drizzle with a little sweet chilli sauce. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over.

Extracted from Fresh Start by Tom Kerridge (Bloomsbury Absolute, approx €29). Photography by Cristian Barnett.