Parmesan Crumb Calamari

I had one of those long days today, where the march until lunch seems interminable and the post-lunch doldrums extend to 5pm. The quality of the day was so grey and dull that I had to make something colorful and rich for dinner.

T and I have been living off the leftovers of his 30-course birthday feast all week, which means we have practically no groceries, so tonight I indulged in a stroll through the Whole Foods meat and seafood departments, waiting for dinner to call out to me.

I examined the whole dungeness crabs, the beautiful strip steak, the organic chicken breasts. But what called out to me was the humble tub of raw squid, all tiny purple tentacles and smooth, creamy tubes. By itself squid isn't much to write home about, and I know it makes a lot of people squeamish. But fried up with spices and lemon juice, it becomes a delectable treat that's easy and cheap.

To my mind, homemade calamari is a lot like risotto: ridiculously easy to make well, and yet so rare in the home kitchen that people think it's restaurant fare. I have to admit I rarely make it myself, but that has a lot more to do with the amount of oil calamari requires than the difficulty of making it.

I don't use a recipe per se, but draw inspiration from Nigella Lawson's ridiculously fun Nigella Bites, which has a recipe for salt and pepper calamari (listed under "TV Dinners," which should tell you how easy this is to make). Instead of using her cornstarch, salt and pepper mix, I tossed the calamari rings and tentacles in a Parmesan bread crumb mixture left in the fridge from last week's mac and cheese. I fried the crumb-coated squid in a generous amount of extra-virgin olive oil in a cast iron skillet, and then finished them under the broiler for three minutes for crunch and color. Once cooked, I tossed the calamari with red sea salt, pepper, and lots of lemon juice. T and I ate the golden rings with extra lemon and a creamy-tangy cabbage and apple slaw.

There are even leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Which is Friday. Suddenly, I'm feeling sunny.