February 14, 2007 – 2:36 pm
If you’re going to eat animals, fish and seafood are tops. I could preach and pontificate endlessly on the virtues of clean, high quality protein and heart-healthy lipids, but I sense that most of my readers don’t need to be told. By now you’ve surely also deduced that I am a seafood freak. Given the option, I’d eat a bit of fresh fish, mollusk or cephalopod every day. I love it all. Leave me on an island with my wee dinghy and net, then watch me thrive like Jehu from yonder mountain. Verily, I am a Fish Man.
I’m contractually obligated to inform you that feeding on fast-swimming sea creatures is even more conducive to a healthy diet. Look at (and eat) marlin and swordfish: They’re lean and strong because they have a taste for speedy prey. Their fast food addiction results in robustness and vitality. But if you can’t get fresh animals from the water, follow this simple rule of thumb: The more difficult it is to catch, the greater the likelihood that it’s better for you. Bison beats beef and pork. Ostrich trumps chicken and turkey. Squirrel, mongoose, cricket or hummingbird: If it was sprightly and spirited in life, so shall you likely be if you eat more of it. Just remember to get some exercise if you didn’t have to chase your dinner.
All of the above points to reasons aplenty for eating squid, but there are further arguments in favor of the lean, speedy cephalopod’s place on your plate. Squid happen to be a remarkably abundant source of marine animal protein, and they’re terribly underutilized as a food source (perhaps the reason for their abundance?). If we would eat more squid and far less of depleted species like cod and sea bass, there might be a chance for Father Neptune to restore balance to life in the Great Briney Deep.
They love squid in Asian and Mediterranean locales. Japan leads the world in squid consumption. Since it hasn’t yet been linked inextricably to a culinary trend (you can have fashionable sushi or tapas without squid, after all), U.S. diners still have no reason to overcome their fear of the tasty underwater aliens. But since losing weight and a healthy diet are fashionable in America, my Stateside readers should consider this: Six ounces (170 g) of squid serves up a whopping 26 grams of protein in tandem with a mere 155 calories and 2 grams of fat. It’s a nearly perfect source of animal protein, containing a proportionate balance of all of the essential amino acids. Squid is very healthy eating. Don’t take my word for it, ask a dolphin.
photo courtesy of Stephen R. King
Squid is also rich in selenium, riboflavin and Vitamin B12. That last nutrient makes it excellent hangover prevention, which may explain why there were so many squid-derived small courses and snacks on the table the last time I was in a Korean karaoke bar. And it’s not only delicious and nutritious, but also inexpensive.
I eat so much squid that I’m always devising new preparations of it, and today’s involved red chard. Chard - Swiss or otherwise - is the leaves of the beet root. They are beet greens. It’s a terrific leafy green vegetable. If you’re a spinach-fearing American these days, you’ll want to consider giving chard the time of day. You’ll commonly see Swiss chard with white stalks, but I was lucky enough to find some gorgeous red chard when I was squid shopping and had to have it. The result of my shopping and hunger was a brisk saute of squid and red chard. While this is not classic Dalmatian cooking, it is most assuredly inspired by the ingredients and tastes of the eastern Adriatic coast; and since I whipped it up for the first time yesterday, you could refer to it as nova dalmatinska cuisine. It’s just a quick, simple pan-fry of squid and chard, or Lignje sa Blitvom. Want the recipe?
Lignje sa Blitvom
1 pound (1/2 kg) cleaned squid
1/2 pound (1/4 kg) Swiss or red chard
1 large handful of parsley leaves, chopped roughly
1 large white onion
4 cloves of garlic, chopped and crushed
1 or 2 medium lemons (how lemony do you like it?)
salt, pepper and dried chile flakes
olive oil
You could cut the squid bodies into rings, but for smaller, bite-sized squid, I prefer to leave them whole. That way, the body cavity becomes a nice little hiding place for flavor, like an edible spoon. Now set the squid aside and get to work on the chard. As you’ll see in the first image below, the center stalk of the chard leaf is quite like celery. Cut the leaf away from the center stalk on each side so it’s left looking even more like celery. Roll the leaf segments up together in a bundle, cut the roll in half lengthwise, then slice crosswise to achieve a leafy confetti. Slice the stalk thinly and diagonally to achieve a julienne (third image). Likewise, julienne the onion, then chop a small handful of it quite finely and set it aside. The middle image depicts what your vegetable mise en place should look like.
Now heat 1/4 cup (50 mL) of olive oil in large skillet until it begins to smoke. Drop in the chard stalks and onions and saute. When they begin to carmelize slightly, squeeze in a bit of lemon juice, reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer until tender.
Once these are cooked, return the skillet to high heat. Add the crushed garlic, squid, chard leaves and parsley. Keep the mixture hot and toss it briskly, squeezing a dash or two of lemon juice in from time to time. After about a minute and a half of sauteeing at high heat, season with salt and pepper to taste, then squeeze a LOT of lemon juice therein. Cover and simmer on high heat for around two mintues, until the chard leaves have become tender. Whatever adjustments you make during preparation, this should be cooked VERY quickly so as not to rubberize the squid. That’s it. Plate it up, garnish with the raw, chopped onion you set aside, add a few pinches of chile flakes and drizzle with more olive oil and lemon juice if you like. Enjoy.
Here’s a printable version of the recipe.
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/ 1. n. v. a blow on hand given as a punishment; to strike, chastise < E dial. < L pande (palmam), hold out (your hand). ‘I got pandied for cogging (q.v. cog)’; Synge, Playboy, Act 3, FDA 2, 643: “Pegeen: ‘That’s it, now the world will see him pandied”, Joyce, Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 61: “‘Yes, sir, but Father Dolan said he will come in again tomorrow to pandy me for it’”.
