Octopus Salad with Peppers and Olives

Have you ever tried Octopus? I know that it’s a difficult ingredient for most of the people but for Greeks it’s almost something like a.. trademark. We use it in many many recipes and it's a must have dish on every table to a Greek Tavern near the sea... Today I have a simple and delicious salad for you..
Now if you buy a frozen octopus then most likely it will be already cleaned so you don’t have to do any work on it.
If you find it fresh and you are that brave; then here is a link to my Greek Blog (I know it will be all Greek to you) you can see the pictures (and even try the translate button) to see how I get it cleaned (Its really easy).
This salad must be prepared one or two days before serving, so that the aromas come together and marinate the ingredients.

Ingredients

1 octopus (about 1 pound)
150 ml white wine vinegar
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 bay leaf
1 star anise
For the salad
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
4 green onions chopped
1/3 cup Kalamata or Green olives, sliced into rings
Salt - Pepper

How to make

Rinse the octopus thoroughly and place it in a pot  (without any water or oil), add the bay leaf and star anise and cook over very low heat for 45 minutes.
Add the oil and vinegar and continue cooking for 20 minutes more or until the octopus become tender.
Remove the octopus from the pot, let it cool and cut it into pieces. Place in a bowl and pour on top the liquid  from the pan.
For the salad
Cut the peppers and onions into pieces. Put them in a bowl, add the parsley, olives and octopus.
Toss and add salt and pepper. Let the salad one night to develop the flavors and taste it for seasoning (salt, pepper, oil, vinegar) before serving.

Have a wonderful weekend!