Greek Salad Recipe – Rachel Cooks®

Not-So-Conventional Greek Salad

A traditional Greek salad often has a giant slab of feta accompanied by giant chunks of inexperienced pepper and tomato, together with olives, onion, and cucumber. Indubitably, it’s scrumptious nevertheless it’s a bit of bit unwieldy to eat. Plus, the dearth of lettuce looks like an oversight. It is a salad that wants some lettuce!

So I’ve determined to place my very own spin on Greek salad with this recipe. It nonetheless has the feta, Kalamata olives, and conventional veggies, however they’re reduce into fork-sized items to make your consuming expertise seamless (a method I borrowed from my chopped Greek salad). I additionally add lettuce, which is ideal for profiting from that zippy crimson wine French dressing.

My Greek Salad Recipe

A modernized Greek salad recipe. Including lettuce and reducing all of the veggies smaller provides Greek salad an up to date really feel with out altering any of the core elements and flavors we love!

Huge, daring flavors. What makes Greek salad so scrumptious is all of the BIG flavors. Apart from the lettuce and the cucumbers, there are actually no shrinking violets right here! The Kalamata olives and cheese are salty and briny, crimson onions are pungent, the tomatoes are candy and acidic, inexperienced bell pepper provides sharpness, whereas the tangy dressing ties all of it collectively.

Implausible textures. The opposite draw of a Greek salad is the feel. It doubles down on the crispy and crunchy however the cheese provides creaminess, and tomatoes give it bursts of juiciness.

Ingredient Notes

• Romaine lettuce: I take advantage of a complete head of romaine lettuce; for those who use hearts of romaine, you’ll want to purchase three. Romaine is crisp and durable sufficient to face as much as the opposite elements on this salad.
• Purple onion: I wish to slice the onions very thinly so that they aren’t overpowering. A mandoline slicer helps!
• Tomatoes: You should utilize cherry or grape tomatoes. I desire the petite tomatoes to a full-size tomato as a result of they launch much less juice into the salad.
• Cucumber: I like to recommend a greenhouse cucumber. It has fewer seeds and the edible peel may be very colourful. Persian or English cucumbers may even work.
• Inexperienced bell pepper: Inexperienced bell pepper has a improbable chew to it in comparison with sweeter yellow and crimson bell peppers. It’s one of many key elements in a Greek salad.
• Kalamata olives: Purchase pitted olives to avoid wasting your self the time of pitting them your self.
• Feta cheese: Use a block of feta and reduce it into cubes. Crumbled feta type of dissolves into the salad when tossed with the dressing and we would like these large daring bites of feta right here as a substitute.
• Dressing: My Greek salad dressing recipe combines olive oil, crimson wine vinegar, and garlic with oregano, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper.

Find out how to Make Greek Salad

Make the dressing. Whisk collectively the elements in a small bowl or liquid measuring cup. (Utilizing a measuring cup is sweet as a result of the spout makes it straightforward to pour with none accidents!)

Prep the lettuce. After washing the romaine, dry it effectively. Chop it into bite-sized items and dry these in a salad spinner in the event that they’re nonetheless a bit moist. Water is the enemy of salad! It makes the greens wilt and dulls the flavour of the dressing.

Prep the veggies. Rinse the tomatoes, peppers, and cucumber and pat them dry. Halve the tomatoes and chop the peppers and cucumber into bite-sized items. Thinly slice the onion.

Toss. Mix the lettuce with the greens and olives. Toss gently, then add the cubed feta and toss once more. Use a mild contact particularly after you add the feta. You don’t need to crush it into bits.

Gown the salad. Pour the dressing into the bowl and toss another time, then serve.

Ideas and Variations

• Don’t gown the salad till you’re able to serve it. For those who’re making this for a celebration, you may serve the dressing on the aspect and let everybody add their very own. If the salad sits within the dressing too lengthy, the lettuce will wilt.
• Add crunch. There’s a whole lot of crisp on this salad however if you would like some crunch too, pita chips can be improbable. Add them as a topping moderately than tossing them with the salad. For a more healthy choice, you may make your individual crispy roasted chickpeas so as to add on high.
• Make it a meal. Add grilled hen to this Greek salad to make it extra filling and switch it into a whole meal. For those who’re a fan of tuna, add a can of strong white tuna, drained. Add drained canned chickpeas for plant protein, or skip the lettuce and sub in cooked quinoa.

Serving Recommendations

Meat. Serve the salad as a aspect with marinated hen. Use Greek hen marinade to infuse it with taste earlier than grilling or baking. Greek meatballs can be excellent alongside this salad, too, with creamy tzatziki sauce.

Seafood. Lemon pepper shrimp or lemon salmon with dill each have flavors that will pair effectively with Greek salad.

Pita bread. Serve pita bread on the aspect to scoop up any leftover dressing and feta out of your salad. We love this straightforward flatbread recipe! Serve it with home made hummus or garlicky tahini sauce for those who like.

If doable, retailer the Greek salad and dressing individually. This may prolong the storage lifetime of your salad. Saved individually, the dressing will final for per week and the salad will final for two to three days. Whisk the dressing earlier than utilizing it and, if it’s solidified within the fridge, let it come to room temperature for 10 to fifteen minutes.

For those who’ve already dressed the salad, it’ll hold in an hermetic container for as much as a day. You’ll be able to add a couple of handfuls of freshly chopped romaine to revive among the crispness.

• In a small bowl or measuring cup, whisk collectively dressing elements till well-combined (emulsified).

  ¼ cup further virgin olive oil, 3 tablespoons crimson wine vinegar, 1 garlic clove, minced or pressed, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, ⅛ teaspoon coarse floor black pepper, extra to style

• Rinse the romaine lettuce; dry as a lot as doable. Chop into bite-sized items. If the lettuce nonetheless appears moist, spin it in a salad spinner to take away any extra water.

  1 head romaine lettuce

• Add the lettuce, onion, tomatoes, cucumber, inexperienced bell pepper, and olives to a big salad bowl or mixing bowl. Toss gently to combine. Add the feta and toss once more gently.

  1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved, 1 greenhouse cucumber, chopped, 1 inexperienced bell pepper, chopped, ½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved, 4 oz. feta cheese, reduce into cubes, ½ crimson onion, very thinly sliced

• Add the dressing to the salad instantly earlier than serving; toss till well-coated with dressing.

• Romaine: We use a complete head of romaine. For those who use romaine lettuce hearts, you’ll want a package deal of three hearts, as a result of they’re smaller.
• Onions: To scale back the robust taste of the onions, do that professional trick. Marinate the sliced onions within the dressing when you prep the remainder of the salad. This may take the chew out of the flavour.
• Make forward: For those who don’t plan to serve this salad instantly, refrigerate the dressing and salad individually. Gown the salad instantly previous to serving.

Serving: 1cup, Energy: 148kcal, Carbohydrates: 9g, Protein: 4g, Fats: 12g, Saturated Fats: 3g, Polyunsaturated Fats: 1g, Monounsaturated Fats: 7g, Ldl cholesterol: 13mg, Sodium: 381mg, Potassium: 453mg, Fiber: 3g, Sugar: 4g, Vitamin A: 7519IU, Vitamin C: 29mg, Calcium: 119mg, Iron: 1mg

Diet data is mechanically calculated, so ought to solely be used as an approximation.

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