I have this problem with eating things that still look like the animal. A peeled shrimp without the head? All good. Shrimp with head + antennae + eyes? No, thank you!

Well, we had some delicious calamari fritti last week and I thought, well, that wasn’t so bad… I should learn how to eat it even with the tentacles and the color. Adrian had requested a recipe for roasted squid with garbanzos recently, so I thought we’d give it a try. Turns out… it was delicious!

Roasted Squid with Garbanzo Beans and Chili Oil (adapted from Serious Eats)

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 pound squid, cleaned, bodies cut diagonally into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1 cup frisée, chopped (we used an escarole/endive/radicchio mix and it was fine)
• 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon sherry wine vinegar (we used red wine vinegar because it was on hand)
• 1 tablespoon chili oil (commonly found in the Asian aisle/supermarket)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 500°F. Pour olive oil into an oven safe skillet set over medium-high heat. Toss in the squid, and cook for about 1 minute, stirring often.
• Add the garbanzo beans, lemon juice, garlic, and lemon zest. Stir well, and season with a pinch of salt. Transfer skillet to the oven and cook for 5 minutes, stirring every minute.
• Remove skillet from the oven, and add the frisée and parsley and stir. Divide the squid and beans between two plates. Drizzle the sherry vinegar and chili oil on top of both and season with salt and black pepper to taste.