The Greek Salad is famous around the world. However, it has been brutally abused and sometimes the final product has nothing in common with the fresh, crisp, full of goodness, original Greek Salad.
I have heard that some restaurants serve sun dried tomatoes with pickled cucumbers and they name this concoction Greek Salad. Or they put lettuce and other greens, with a sprinkling of feta. They dress the salad with fancy vinaigrettes and balsamic vinegars.
All the Greek Salad requires is fresh tomatoes and cucumbers and you must dress it with good quality olive oil. It is very easy to make, and the taste is out of this world.
Ingredients: 1 nice ripe but firm tomato 1 small cucumber 1 small onion 1 small green pepper About 10 Kalamata olives 1 tablespoonful capers 1 piece of feta cheese about as big as the palm of your hand. You can also crumble it on top of the salad. Salt Oregano 3 – 4 tablespoonfuls virgin olive oil (or as much as you like)Directions:
Have a salad bowl at hand to put the tomatoes etc. in as you cut them into pieces. Wash the tomato, dry it and cut it into bite-sized pieces. Peel the cucumber and slice it. (If it is very young and fresh you can leave the peel on. Wash it well and slice it.) Peel the onion of its outer layers, cut it in half and then slice it rather thinly. Or you may slice it whole so that you have onion rings. Cut the pepper in half, remove seeds and slice it rather thinly. Rinse the capers if you feel they are too salty and scatter them over the salad. Sprinkle some salt over and lightly toss the salad. Now, place the piece of cheese over the salad and sprinkle the oregano over everything. Scatter the olives and now drizzle the olive oil over everything.
This should be enough for two or three people, but you can increase or decrease the ingredients accordingly. You can also leave out things that you don’t like, for instance the capers. Make the salad according to your taste, but everything must be fresh.
The Greek Salad can accompany almost any meal, and furthermore it constitutes a meal by itself. Nice crusty bread (or grilled bread brushed with olive oil and oregano) is all you really need, and don’t be afraid to dip it in the oil. Actually dipping is a must!
TIP: When you use oregano, put a couple of pinches in the palm of your other hand, and rub your hands together over the salad. This way, you crush the little leaves and they release their aroma.