Who doesn't like food that comes off the grill? Today's recipe is ridiculously tasty, incorporating lemon and fiery spices to give the salad a piercing, tangy flavor. As usual, this salad is also extremely easy (even you lazy foodies out there can assemble this dish without having a mental break down).

The only downside of this recipe is that most of the "essential" ingredients are from England, so they probably cannot be found in your everyday Korean supermarket. However, thanks to the internet, I was able to link the items below so you can order them online.

INGREDIENTS

3 salad servings

• Pre-blanched octopus (my mom says the smaller ones tend to have more flavor)

Note: This recipe is based on half an octopus, so if you plan on using a whole octopus, it will serve around six people or six servings.

• Lemon
• 1tsp smoked paprika powder
• 2tsp harissa paste
• 1/4tsp cayenne pepper (available in SSG supermarket) - use less depending on your spice tolerance
• Tomatoes (I prefer cherry tomatoes, but I used grape tomatoes on this particular day)
• Basil leaves
• Olive Oil
• Salad greens (pre-packaged)
• *Optional: dill

TOOLS

• The most essential tool for today is the "grill." You don't have to use a barbecue grill, but a grill pan for the stove would work perfectly as well (what I used).

• Tongs

Directions

1. Cut your octopus into sections (separate the tentacles and the head). This way, it is easier to grill.
2. Add the juice of half a lemon (cut the half into wedges, because we are going to grill the lemon later on as well).

3. Next, slice your basil leaves and combine in the bowl along with your measured out paprika powder, cayenne pepper, and harissa paste. Give it all a GOOD mixing.

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4. Now that your octopus marinade is complete, set it aside. Prepare your grill by turning the stove heat on to high (or medium-high) and pouring a generous amount of olive oil on your pan. After waiting for a minute or two for your pan to heat up, use tongs to place your octopus on the pan (don't forget to add all the basil leaves and lemon in). Try not to move the position of your octopus at this moment, because we really want to get that "char" mark. After a few minutes, flip your octopus over to grill the other side. Remember that your octopus has already been lightly blanched, so don't keep it on the grill for too long or else the octopus will begin to toughen.

5. Meanwhile, start cutting your tomatoes in half (though it depends on how large your tomatoes are).

6. When your grilled octopus is done, removed everything from the pan, and add olive oil in once again. Proceed to grilling your tomatoes.

Part of the reason why this recipe is so quick is because there is a lot of multitasking involved, so always be mindful of what is going on in your kitchen.

7. Leave the tomatoes to grill, and start cutting your octopus into smaller pieces. For thickness (octopus legs), try to aim for about two suckers in width.

8. Your tomatoes should be finished a little while before you have cut up all of your octopus. Simply turn the heat off whilst you cut the rest of the octopus. Afterwards, collect the tomatoes from the grill into a separate bowl.
9. To assemble, wash your dill and salad greens. On a plate, place the tomatoes at the base, and pile on the octopus, salad greens, and garnish with dill and lemon in circle formation.

That's a wrap for my grilled octopus salad! So delicious and flavorful, yet extremely easy—literally the whole salad was created in one pan! Hope you all enjoy this spicy, savory, summer salad. xxx Nicole

P.s. My mom suggested that this salad would taste even better with fresh, firm peach slices in it. You guys should definitely try it out!

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