Vibrant Greek Salad
I can’t begin to tell you all the emotions Im feeling right now as I sit here at my Mac writing my very first Blog post!!! Subconsciously I have procrastinated by telling myself ill just quickly put a load of washing on or I need to do more research on the best title. In reality however, all I really need to be doing is sitting my ass down and writing this post so that you can get the recipe for the best ever greek salad!!
So hear I am at my desk, which is in our kids playroom, probably not the most productive place. My youngest son William is running around the house with his sisters pram while my older two are building lego in the kitchen.
I think over the years the Greek salad has become a bit bland and boring. Think of the tubs you can get from the supermarket or your local charcoal chicken, do you get me? I want to show you how to bring it back looking sexier and tasting better than ever!
Why I love Greek Salad
Telling you that Greek salad is a staple on our dinner table is an understatement! I will literally make this recipe every few days if not daily. Its safe to say that I have an obsession and in particular with feta cheese! My obsession started after our trip to Europe in 2011 when we were lucky enough to visit Mykonos and Santorini.
After having Greek salad over there it totally blew my mind! It was nothing like what I had previously had back home. It was simply the freshness and the quality of the ingredients used. The crispy cucumbers and the vibrant, juicy tomatoes. Taking a bit of time to source fresh, good quality ingredients will go a long way.
What you will need
- Iceberg lettuce
- Red capsicum
- Lebanese cucumbers
- Truss tomatoes
- Red onion
- Kalamata olives (pitted)
- Oregano (fresh or dried is fine)
- Fresh dill
- Feta cheese
For the dressing
- Extra virgin olive oil
- White wine vinegar
- Lemon
- Dijon mustard
- oregano
- salt and freshly ground pepper
My tips for the best Greek salad
- Always use the freshest ingredients and where possible use vegetables that are in season
- Use truss or cherry tomatoes; these are the best quality especially when tomatoes are not in season. You DO NOT want to use tomatoes that are not ripe and are white and floury on the inside.
- Fresh herbs will give your salad extra flavour and will visually make it more appealing too
- A good quality extra virgin olive oil is also very important. I am using Moro extra virgin olive oil.
- for the olives I use pitted kalamata olives because you don’t want the pips in there. still be careful though as I have come across the odd pip in the pitted varieties.
- Lastly and probably the most important the feta, there are so many on the market and so many different varieties. you want Greek feta because of the high quality of the milk thats used. In my recipe I use Dodoni vacuume sealed 200g pack and then I crumble it myself.
Assembling the Salad
To make the salad more visually appealing I like to work in layers. So grab a large salad bowl or a rectangular plater and start with a layer of lettuce, followed by capsicum, cucumber and tomatoes. Next I sprinkle over dried oregano, salt and freshly cracked pepper. Its important not to use too much salt as the feta and the olives already add a saltiness to the dish. Lastly top with your black olives, feta cheese and fresh dill springs.
The dressing, fresh is best!!!
For the dressing the ingredients are very simple and you probably already have these in your fridge/pantry. Its basically a vinaigrette to give the salad a boost of flavour and oomph! Making it yourself is quick and easy and I highly recommend it to using store bought. The beauty is once you have this salad dressing you can use it for other salads as well as marinades for when you want to grill fish, meat or veggies. It’s delicious! That little extra effort goes a long way. Trust me after trying my dressing you won’t go back to buying the pre made stuff!
I recommend getting yourself some good quality mason jars. They are perfect for shaking up all your salad dressings. I also love using mine for leftover salads to bring to work or for when I am in a rush.
So there you have it! my tips and recommendations for pimping up an everyday salad to an A-mazing salad that you will want to have every day of the week! This salad is great for parties too and I find its always a crowd pleaser. I hope you have enjoyed my very first post! hopefully this is one that I will look back on in 5 years time and be like wow look how far I have come!! But seriously I am so very excited to start this journey with you and share what I love to cook for my own family. I hope you will enjoy my recipes with your family too!!
Bits and pieces to make life easier
Set of 2 porcelain serving bowls
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Easy Greek Salad
Ingredients
- 1/2 iceberg lettuce washed and thickly sliced
- 1 red capcicum deseeded, halved and thinly sliced
- 2 lebanese cucumbers sliced into half moons
- 4 truss tomatoes cut into quarters
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- 300 grams kalamata olives pitted
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 small bunch fresh dill springs
- 200 grams feta cheese
For the dressing
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbs white wine vinegar
- juice of half a lemon
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tsp oregano
- good pinch of salt
- freshly ground black pepper optional
Instructions
To assemble your salad
- In a large salad bowl or platter, layer the lettuce, capsicum, cucumber, tomatoes and red onion. Sprinkle over the oregano and a small pinch of salt.Top with the kalamata olives, feta and the dill springs
For the Dressing
- place all ingredients in a screw top jar. Secure lid and shake well until combined. pour the dressing over salad and toss gently to combine once you are ready to serve.
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