Our traditional Greek salad features a mix of fresh vegetables instead of lettuce and is dressed with a lemony vinaigrette.
Country-Style Greek Salad
SERVES 6 to 8 FAST VEG
WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS Most versions of Greek salad consist of iceberg lettuce, chunks of green pepper, and a few pale wedges of tomato, sparsely dotted with cubes of feta and garnished with one forlorn olive of questionable heritage. For our Greek salad, we aimed higher and left out the lettuce altogether to make a “country style” salad that is popular throughout Greece. We wanted a salad with crisp ingredients and bold flavors, highlighted by briny olives and tangy feta, all blended together with a bright-tasting dressing infused with fresh herbs. For a dressing with balanced flavor, we used a combination of lemon juice and red wine vinegar and added fresh oregano, olive oil, and a small amount of garlic. We poured the dressing over fresh vegetables, including tomatoes, onion, and cucumbers, as well as other ingredients, including fresh mint and parsley, roasted peppers, and a generous sprinkling of feta cheese and olives. Marinating the onion and cucumbers in the vinaigrette toned down the onion’s harshness and flavored the cucumbers.
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1½ tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
Salt and pepper
2 cucumbers, peeled, halved lengthwise, seeded, and sliced thin
½ red onion, sliced thin
6 large ripe tomatoes, cored, seeded, and cut into ½-inch-thick wedges
1 cup jarred roasted red peppers, rinsed, patted dry, and cut into ½-inch strips
½ cup pitted kalamata olives, quartered
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
¼ cup chopped fresh mint
5 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (1¼ cups)
1. Whisk oil, vinegar, oregano, lemon juice, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper together in large bowl. Add cucumbers and onion, toss to coat, and let sit for 20 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, red peppers, olives, parsley, and mint to bowl with cucumber-onion mixture and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Transfer salad to wide, shallow serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with feta. Serve immediately.
