The Dinner Table: A Greek Salad

 Oftentimes when I really want to remember the delicious food that we ate while in the Greek islands, I close my eyes, feel the breeze of the Aegean Sea and specifically remember biting into the juiciest, most amazing tomato that I had ever tasted, all while the sunset overhead.  

Prior to visiting Greece, I had quite a different idea in my head of what a Greek salad consisted of, oftentimes it was mixed greens (or even worse iceburg lettuce), crumbled feta, sliced black olives, and tomato. There was definitely something lost in translation when this salad started appearing on the menu in the United States.  The Greeks incorporate thickly sliced cucumber, sweet cherry tomatoes, diced feta, thinly sliced red onion, capers and Kalamata olives.  They then season it with a drizzling of olive oil and dried or fresh oregano.  Greek salad according to the Greeks, in my opinion is how salad should be; they combine the freshest ingredients and flavors that visitors will dream about and try to recreate for the rest of their life.  Continue for recipe...

Ingredients:

1 block feta cheese, diced (preferably sheep's milk)

1 large cucumber, diced (preferably hothouse)

1 pint cherry tomatoes 

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons fresh oregano or 1 tablespoon dried

Extra virgin olive oil (preferably Greek)

Garnish with capers and Kalamata olives (if desired)

Serves 2 to 4 people.

Chop/slice all ingredients and place into a bowl, stir to mix together.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle oregano and garnish with capers and Kalamata olives if using.  

*All photographs by Alison