Greek Salad

English cucumbers are some of my favorites, but they spoil quickly.  With all the requested recipes, this is where I am starting.  We also got a lot of tiny drop tomatoes today. I have never had them before, so I figured, why not try those in this recipe?  Traditionally, this recipe has red onions, but we have some white onions that desperately need to be used up.  

Normally, Kalamata olives are expensive, but I found that at Dollar Tree in both Show Low, AZ, and Gallup, NM, they sell jars of Kalamata olives there, lol. I probably buy 5 or 6 jars every time I go into either town.  They also sometimes have pepperoncini, though I still have a few jars left from the rescue produce boxes where we got a case of them that I pickled.

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Greek Salad

1 1/2 cups of tiny drop tomatoes, or cut the cherry tomatoes into wedges (quartered)

1/2 English cucumber, split down the middle lengthwise and sliced (half moons)

1/4 cup of pepperonchinis, sliced

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced + 1 tbsp white vinegar

1 handful Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

1/2 (7oz) block of Feta Cheese, crumbled

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano, more to garnish

Pink Salt and Black Pepper to taste

1/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil, one with robust flavor

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Makes 4 servings.

Start by thinly slicing the white onions and put them in a bowl.  Just cover them with cold water and add a splash of white vinegar.  Let them sit for 10 minutes.  This will shock the onions and help mellow out their flavor.  Combine the vegetables in a large salad bowl.  Drain the onions and add them to the rest of the vegetables.  Sprinkle the oregano, salt, pepper, olive oil, and red wine vinegar, and gently mix to coat the vegetables.  Add half of your feta cheese and mix.  Top with the other half of the feta and sprinkle on more oregano to garnish.  Enjoy this with grilled meats, light soups, and a hearty bread; we are having a rosemary sourdough with this.

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Greek food is not about complexity, but about a perfect balance of ingredients. 

 - Diane Kochilas