pan-fried squid & chorizo with heritage tomato & feta salad

Here's a healthy Mediterranean type option for those of you who, like me, still wish they were on holiday having long lazy lunches somewhere hot and sunny without too much of a care in the world...

This light dish started off life as a 'let's-see-what-we've-got-left-in-the-fridge' plate of food, when I fancied a starter to pre-empt the chicken dish I was cooking as my main course. The resulting meal was VERY tasty, so of course I had to share! As you can see from the photo, it looks great too; really vibrant with loads of colour, and of course the flavours are just beautiful together.

Quick to prepare, and even quicker to cook and plate up, leaving you plenty of time to slow down and enjoy with a large slurp or two of cold dry white wine...

Ingredients

For the squid

• 2 x squid (tubes/bodies only), cleaned, halved along each side and cut into thin strips widthways
• 1 x chorizo sausage, diced (I used Gubbeen chorizo from Cork, keeping it local!)
• Olive oil
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• Salt & pepper

For the tomato salad

• 2oog (approx - I used 2 - 3 good handfuls) Heritage (a.k.a. Heirloom) tomatoes, sliced
• 80g feta cheese, diced
• Good handful of freshly chopped parsley
• 1 clove of garlic, finely sliced
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
• Salt & pepper

Method

1. First make the salad. Throw everything into a bowl and season to taste with the lemon juice, salt & pepper. Leave to one side for the flavours to combine a little.
2. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and add the chorizo. Cook for 4 or 5 minutes until the sausage starts to colour and release some of its oils.Remove from the pan and drain on kitchen paper.
3. In the same pan, add a small splash of olive oil and throw in the squid pieces.
4. Stir regularly and again, season to taste with the lemon  juice, salt & pepper.
5. When the squid is cooked (but still nice & tender) add the chorizo back into the pan for 30 seconds to warm through.
6. To serve, divide the squid & chorizo into two portions, placing in the centre of each plate.
7. Place the tomatoes randomly around the outside of the plate and drizzle over the dressing.
8. Eat as slowly as you can to maximise the enjoyment. It might also be worth trying to convince your dining partner that they don't like it that much so you can steal theirs as well. Good luck with that...

I ate this last night for the first time and even just typing up the menu I'm drooling! That must say something about how nice it is, right?! I have to say, absolutely delicious...

Serves 2