Living in a Greek neighborhood, you learn to appreciate octopus as an appetizer. It’s rare to go to a Greek restaurant without ever ordering a grill octopus. It’s expensive but at least, not as expensive as in the city. Astoria is great for that: great food at decent price.
One of the restaurant outing I went to, I enjoyed a grilled octopus over guacamole at a local Mexican restaurant, La Pachanga. I typically go here for tacos, the shrimp being the best, IMHO.
It was interesting to see an infusion of Mexican and Greek food. I was so impressed that I decided that this week’s lunch to work will be just that!
Grilled octopus with lentils and guacamole, which I call Octopus-on-Land.
Ingredients
- 1 lb octopus (you can opt for less)
- 1 lemon
- 1 tbps spices, I used chimichurri and crushed pepper peppers
- 2 cups of lentils
- 2 avocado, cubed
- 1/2 red onion, sliced
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 3 cherry tomatoes, diced
- 1 lime, juiced
- 1/2 tsp salt, add as needed
- 1 tsp crushed red peppers
- few sprigs of cilantro
Directions
1. Turn oven to broil, make sure that the rack is at the highest.
2. You can chop the octopus or cook whole. Make sure it’s clean. Add spices and lemon slices on top.
3. Broil for 20 minutes.
4. Cook lentils in water or chicken broth on medium high heat.
5. Meanwhile, prep the guacamole or you can use store bought items. If the guacamole isn’t ripe, always keep in paper bag for a couple of hours to soften it.
6. To prep the guacamole, mix avocado, onion, garlic, and tomatoes with lime juice and salt. Add pepper and or crushed pepper for spiciness. Taste and set aside.
7. Once the lentil is done and the octopus is ready, lay out a plate of lentils, add guacamole, and then add octopus. Serve with cilantro and some lemon slices.
Serve hot! It’s delicious, easy to make, and also quite filling from the lentils.