CHOPPED CALAMARI SALAD

I know we are in the tinned fish era but here on EF let's talk about the tinned calamari in olive oil from none other than Trader Joe's. I've had this calamari before but on my recent trip down the TJ's aisle I grabbed a can to refresh my memory on if I liked it or not. And in fact, I do. 

Summer is wrapping up in a few weeks and this is our last shot for cold salads before we grab the soup bowls. This calamari is the perfect size for a lot of different things with a neutral flavor profile that isn't overly fishy. 

 I instantly thought of a chopped anti-pasti vibe for this but for some reason I wanted to add a lot of different peppers including one of my favorite teeny tiny peppers from my go-to salad at Bad Roman here in NYC - the sweety drop pearl pepper. It's literally the cutest little pepper! I came up with a briny, tangy, sweet and crunchy chopped calamari salad and I hope it keeps a little bit of summer with you for a little longer. 

CHOPPED CALAMARI SALAD

4 cans of calamari in olive oil 

½ red onion, minced 

1 yellow bell pepper, small diced 

½ c. pitted castelvetravo olives 

½ c. peruvian sweety drop pearl peppers

½ c. sweet & spicy yellow and red pepperbella peppers

2T. capers, plus 2t. of the caper brine

a handful of mild sliced banana peppers + some brine

lemon juice, to taste 

salt, to taste 

ground black pepper, to taste

olive oil, to taste

RECIPE NOTES: 

-I bought all of my specialty peppers from the olive bar at Whole Foods 

DIRECTIONS:

Open and pour all of your cans of calamari in a strainer, shaking occasionally to let all of the olive oil drain through. 

Once drained, add calamari pieces to a large bowl and the first 6 ingredients. Next, season to taste with salt, black pepper, olive oil and lemon juice. Lastly add in sliced banana peppers + 2 teaspoons of the banana pepper brine to taste and enjoy.