Greek Summer Salad

Like many salads, this authentic Greek Summer Salad is naturally gluten free, healthy and delicious. With a simple homemade dressing this is the kind of recipe you can memorize and make anywhere you travel. Gluten free eaters love recipes like this, and whole menus, that don't require reading labels.

You can enjoy this salad as part of an entire Greek dinner menu but most often I serve it with some version of souvlaki in the summer. In the winter I serve it with moussaka or pastitsio, and I also take it for lunch on the regular.

Ingredients

The classic combination in these four veggies; tomato, bell pepper, cucumber and onion, with feta cheese and Kalamata olives. It's on my list of Top 10 homemade salads.

• olive oil
• white wine vinegar
• tomatoes
• cucumber
• white or red onion
• red or green bell peppers
• Kalamata olives - come on, just try them!
• feta cheese
• dried oregano

See recipe card for exact amounts.

Instructions

Making homemade dressing is a cinch if you have a good quality olive oil and a few vinegars in your pantry at all times. According to my decades old book of Greek Cookery the basic dressing is just olive oil, wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Simple!

Variations

Here are some of the ways I vary this recipe.

Composed Salad - For a crowd I arrange the individual ingredients on a platter and serve the dressing on the side.

Greek Salad Skewers - For a potluck thread all the ingredients onto skewers and arrange on a platter. I recommend buying the pitted black Kalamata olives for this. Drizzle with dressing at the last minute.

Olives - I know some of you don't like olives. I never grew up eating them and it took a European vacation for me to learn to love olives and Kalamata are still my favourite. I suggest you just try them once in awhile. Buy the pitted ones if the pits are part of what you don't like.

Tomato - For a twist when tomatoes are in season I arrange thin slices of tomato on a round platter then put olives, cucumber or nothing in the centre. Make the salad dressing with feta cheese pureed in it and drizzle on top. Serve the rest on the side.

Cucumber - When you've got lots of cucumbers do the same thing as above with thinly sliced cucumbers. Slice on the diagonal to make them larger. Put cherry tomatoes in the centre and drizzle with oil and vinegar dressing with or without the feta cheese.

Wine Vinegar - Use red or white, whichever you have.

Lettuce - For a quasi Greek salad I start with lettuce and add any or all of the ingredients. Toss and enjoy.

Top Tip

Keep Kalamata olives and feta cheese in your fridge at all times. They both keep for ages and are the two ingredients that transform ordinary veggies into a classic Greek salad. Don't forget the sprinkling of dried oregano!

A Travel Tale from Mykonos

From time to time I write a guest post for my friend Sue over at Travel Tales of Life. In this post, Greek Souvlaki - An Authentic Greek Food Recipe, I wrote about our trip to Mykonos in 1982 (don't miss the nude beach story).

Greek Summer Salad

Gluten free eaters love recipes like this, and whole menus, that don't require reading labels.

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Course: Salad

Cuisine: Greek

Keyword: greek salad, Greek Summer Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Servings: 8 people

Author: Cinde Little

Ingredients

SALAD DRESSING

• ▢ 6 tablespoon olive oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• ▢ salt and pepper

GREEK SALAD

• ▢ 3 tomatoes, cut in wedges, slices or chunks
• ▢ 1 cucumber, cut in chunks or sliced
• ▢ 1 white or red onion, cut in rings, chunks or slices
• ▢ 2 bell peppers (green or red), sliced in rings or cut in chunks
• ▢ 24 Kalamata olives
• ▢ 1 cup feta cheese sliced, cubed or crumbled
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dried oregano

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Instructions

MAKE DRESSING

• Combine oil, vinegar, salt and pepper in a jar and shake. Set aside. (Can be prepared in advance.)

SALAD

• Combine tomatoes, cucumber, onion, peppers and olive in a large bowl.
• Pour dressing over salad and gently toss.
• Divide salad onto plates then top with feta cheese and sprinkle with oregano.

Notes

COMPOSED SALAD - This makes a beautiful composed salad for a buffet. Artfully arrange all the ingredients on a platter. Sprinkle with dried oregano and drizzle with some of the dressing. Serve the remaining  salad dressing in the center of the platter or on the side.