Greek Salad Recipe - by popular demand :)

Greek salad is, by far, one of my favorite dishes.  It's perfect for summer, both as a dish to make for yourself and/or your family OR to make in bulk and bring to summer potlucks.  It's also perfect for vegetarians.  The veggies I went to Greece with lived on this stuff all summer.

I'm going to give you a recipe that isn't specifically aimed at any portion size.  The fun thing about Greek salad is, depending on which ingredients are your favorite, you can mess with the amount of veggies, olives, feta, dressing to fit to your liking. 

The basics:

Tomatoes.  I highly recommend using medium to large sized tomatoes - any color or variety will do, even romas, if you must.   The juicier the better! 

Bell Peppers.  Green peppers are the most common kind to use but I love to give the salad a splash of color by using orange, yellow or red bell peppers, too. 

Cucumbers.

Onions - the sweeter the better.  The Greeks in my neighborhood use red onions almost exclusively and thats what I would see over there, too.  **side bar**  I don't like onions so I never put them in and I've been told that they aren't missed.  But a true Greek salad has onions.

Feta Cheese.  Depending on what is available in your region - get Bulgarian feta as opposed to Greek feta. 

Feta

Why, you ask?  Bulgarian Feta is just better.  It's juicier and crumbles perfectly.  The way it mixes with the lemon juice and olive oil in the dressing MAKES the dressing.  It's all about chemistry.  :)  Regular Greek feta is good, of course, but I find it to be drier and not as flavorful.  If you can, buy the feta at a deli counter, a mosque (some of them have grocery stores) or a Mediterranean food store.  If you don't have access to these things, prepackaged feta can surely be found in any grocery store across the country.

Greek Olives.  There are two types of Greek Olives that work best in a Greek salad.   The most common kind you see these days are Kalamatas.  They come from a specific region of Greece...in fact I think Kalamata is an island.  Anyway, they are very dark and almost-kind of-sort of crescent shaped.  There are distinctly more oval shaped than regular Greek olives.  Greek olives are very BIG and perfectly plump.  They are a light to medium brown color.  Do not use the green ones, it's just not the same taste.  I've seen greenish Greek olives sold in jars (see below), I'm sure they are fine, but they aren't good for Greek Salad.  What you see in the bowl next to the jar is what you want to go for.  It's a smallish pic but you can kind of see how they are much plumper than the Kalamata and are even very slightly wrinkled.  That comes from the brine, it softens the skin of the olive so well that is separates from the meat a little bit.

Kalamatas:

Kalamata_olives_498

Regular Greek Olives:

Greekolives

You can find Greek olives at your deli counter, mosques, Mediterranean food stores, etc.  If you cannot find them in bulk, like at a deli, just buy them in a jar, they are just as good.

The dressing.  A traditional Greek salad dressing contains FRESH lemon juice, olive oil, dried oregano flakes, salt and pepper.  DO NOT use vinegar to sub for lemons.  Greeks out here in the city do that at diners and stuff just because it's easier...I never use their dressing.  It just sucks in comparison and you'll have to trust me on that.  The best part about the dressing is that you don't have to make it separately.  I'll get to that later.  

Instructions

The key to the veggies in a Greek salad is CHUNKS.  So when cutting, think chunks.  You'll see what I mean.

In one big serving bowl:

1.  Slice your tomatoes in half across the belly.  Remove the seeds.  (I just take my knife and loosen the membranes first then stick my fingers in the seed holes to get 'em out.)  Once you have removed the seeds, rinse the tomato again and cut it into bite-sized chunks, anyway you like it.

2.  Slice your bell peppers across the belly to remove the seeds/stem.  Cut the peppers into bite-sized chunks, as well, or you may simply slice them into strips as you may do for other salads.

3.  Peel your cucumbers.  (Or don't peel, it depends on the cuke but if the skin is rubbery definitely peel it)  Slice the cuke in half, long ways.  Take a small spoon and scrape out the seeds.  Slice the cucumber into chunks that are about 1/2" to 3/4" thick.

4.  Peel your onion and cut it anyway you like to make the layers into bite sized chunks. 

5.  Feta.  Crumble enough feta on top of the salad to cover most of it in one layer.  I found this is the best way to determine the right amount.  If you've never worked with feta before, the best method for crumbling is to cut it into 3/4" slabs and go from there.

6.  Loosely sprinkle olives over the salad - this all depends on how much salad you are making and how many olives you like to have in one serving.

Now it's time to dress the salad.   This can be tricky depending on the size of your salad.  I recommend doing a little at a time, tossing in between and tasting to see if you need a little more of this or that.

To taste:

• Drizzle olive oil
• Drizzle fresh squeezed lemon juice
• A pinch of salt
• A few dashes of pepper
• A few dashes of dried Oregano

Note:  If you are bringing a large salad to a dinner party, picnic or potluck I do recommend making the dressing beforehand and putting it on at the last minute. 

Embellishments:

Some stuff I have seen added to Greek salads are pepperocinis, dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) and anchovies.  Why anchovies?  Not a CLUE.  Dolmades are typically served as an appetizer and aren't key to any salad.  Pepperocinis are overkill in my opinion.  Play with these items if you must, but they do not constitute the original and traditional Greek salad.

Greeksalad

Greeksalad2