Greek Salad

~Jaclyn~

I am so excited about sharing this recipe because whenever I make it or crave it, it reminds me of my wonderful honeymoon in Greece! Besides a great tan and amazing memories, this salad recipe is the best thing that I came back with from my trip. I made this salad every day for the next month after coming back because I was so obsessed – and it is just that good. I realize now that it is the dead of winter and no one is all that jazzed about salads, but this one will definitely satisfy a craving you didn’t know you had! I also have found that I have trouble getting a healthy serving of vegetables each day in the winter months, and found that whenever I have this I don’t feel guilty the rest of the day. 

When I went to Greece I was on a mission to try as many new foods as I could, but I couldn’t help myself from eating at least one Greek salad every day. The salad I grew up eating and ordering in restaurants in the US, is very different than what you get at a traditional restaurant in Greece. The main difference is that traditional Greek salads do not contain any kind of lettuce; the base is big fresh tomatoes and big chunks of cucumber. Another notable difference is that although both salads have feta cheese, the traditional Greek salad feta is not crumbled, it is thickly sliced and placed right on top. I did notice that some salads had a light tangy dressing, but most just had a delicious good quality olive oil drizzled on top and that’s all it really needed. All Greek salads typically include olives, but this is one ingredient I just don’t care to eat, even in Greece (trust me, I tried to like them when I was there), so I choose to omit the olives and add capers to get a similar tangy and salty flavor.  And you probably won’t find avocado in any Greek salad recipe, but I like to add it when I’m having this salad as my main meal for lunch or dinner because of the added fiber, healthy fat, and creamy texture. Mmmmmmm

There is no cooking required to make this meal, and it just might be the easiest recipe I will ever talk about. All you need to do is prep and cut your ingredients, assemble with the tomatoes and cucumbers on the bottom, top with the shallot, avocado, and roasted red pepper slices (you can add sliced green peppers here as well for another classic ingredient), then finally top the salad with capers, feta, and seasoning. You can simply use dried oregano to season your salad or you can make your own Greek seasoning mix by combining together dry spices: oregano, thyme, basil, parsley, and a little salt. Since this salad doesn’t have any lettuce you really don’t need much dressing. I drizzle the top of mine with some good quality extra virgin olive oil and aged white wine vinegar and that’s all you need to finish it off. I like to serve mine with some crusty bread as well to soak up all the delicious juices at the end of the meal. I hope you try this recipe out today and experience part of Greece for yourself!