Accro au poulpe – Blettes et poulpe à la vinaigrette de gingembre et citron

Well after about one month of no blogging, and taking a break from it, I had to come back to my old life simply because I am starting to miss it. I apologize for disappearing this way, without really no explanation. I want to send a big thanks to everyone who sent me wonderful little message asking how I was doing. That really brightened my dark days. There are truly wonderful bloggers out there whose kindness really touched me. One more time, Merci infiniment to all of you who got in touch with me and to all of you who kept reading my old posts.

I hope no one thought I was some kind of lunatic (in French lunatique, means moody) who just disappears without leaving any trace. I felt somehow overwhelmed and unmotivated and busy with some other projects and just wanted to take a little break from the blog world.

I hope everyone out there is doing marvelously, happy and in good spirit!

I have always loved octopus, but it seems like little by little, I am really getting addicted to it. Isn’t this a weird addiction? Oh well, I think we all have a weird attachment to something in particular, don’t you think?

I got somehow inspired by the Japanese cooked spinach dish, I believe it’s called ohitashi, but here I used chards instead. Chards have a stronger flavor than spinach but I really like them with octopus. The dense octopus meat goes perfectly well with the leafy texture and flavor of the chards. The whole dish being enhanced with a citrussy and ginger dressing. This is a simple dish, with true flavors that would be perfect as a seafood tapas.

The Chinese market I go to sometimes, have cut and pre-cooked octopus, so you don’t have to buy a whole one, that is perfect for small portions.

Ingredients for 4

  • 400 g octopus
  • 4 bunches chards

For the vinaigrette

  • 1 tsp ginger, grated
  • 2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 tsp shoyu
  • 1 tbs orange juice
  • salt and pepper

Preparation

Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot. Remove stems from chards. Add chards to boiling water. Cook for about 7 minutes, then drain and let it cool. When completely cooled, squeeze extra water with your hands and form a small oval shape ball.

Cook octopus until soft (about one and a half hours) or if you use pre-cooked octopus, just place it in boiling water and let it cook for about 15 minutes. Slice each tentacle in about 2mm thick slice and place  it on top of each chard ball.

Combine all the vinaigrette ingredients together, mix well and spoon some of it on top of the octopus and around the spinach.