There is probably no restaurant or cafe whose menu would not have a salad of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers with olives and soft cheese (most often feta cheese), which goes under the name "Greek salad". However, far from any such salad will have the right to be called that way, and to be more precise, without olive oil, rigana and feta, no tomato and cucumber salad can be called Greek!
Frankly, I didnât have a chance to visit Greece, but I visited ethnic Greeks who often go to their relatives in Greece and bring real Greek olive oil from there, so I once tried this salad, which seemed to me to be extremely tasty, and I realized that everything that I mistook for Greek salad was just a monstrous surrogate.
In general, the concept of âGreek saladâ does not exist as such; in Greece itself it is called âsalad lettuceâ, which means rustic (or peasant) salad , and indeed is an everyday dish in any family, even if simple, even prosperous.
So how do you cook a Greek salad?
A real Greek salad requires fresh ripe tomatoes and cucumbers, purple onions, black olives, feta (this is the most tender salted sheepâs cheese, not feta cheese, which is sold in cheese brine, and no other!) And good quality olive oil. Juicy red and yellow bell peppers are also added. It is especially necessary to say that olive oil here plays the role of not just dressing, but goes as an indispensable ingredient - otherwise there will be anything, but not the same saladâs ferrets. And of course, spices and herbs - the Greeks love fragrant seasonings and add oregano (rigan) and basil to their famous salad.
But did you know that oregano spice is a common oregano known to all of us that grows well not only in the Mediterranean, but also in our latitudes? So stock up on it already in early June - not only as a medicinal plant, but also as an excellent seasoning, enriching the taste of many dishes with its aroma.
So, let's try to cook a Greek salad, given all of the above.
We take 4 ripe red tomatoes, 2 cucumbers, olives about 12 pieces (based on 3-4 pcs per serving), 200 gram feta (one 1.5 cm thick plate), purple lettuce (also called red), sweet pepper - red and yellow, one at a time, olive oil (if you find Greek, not Spanish, then it's gorgeous), oregano and basil (by a generous pinch).
Vegetables (tomatoes and cucumbers) in Greek salad are cut into large cubes, 1.5 centimeters, and onions and peppers in half rings (we take spacious bowls or salad bowls). If the onion is very bitter, then pour boiling water to soften the taste, but, as a rule, salad varieties of onions are not "evil", rather sweetish.
Next, add the whole olives (take pitted). But if you cook for yourself, then you can take it with a bone, because the seeds from olives are very useful, you can specially swallow a couple of pieces without any harm - they are safely digested in the stomach.
Shake all this, but if youâre afraid that you wonât be able to shake it gently, mix it literally with two or three movements, and put the whole plate of feta on top of the vegetables - this salty cheese is so tender that it breaks into arbitrary pieces and mixes itself with other vegetables like as soon as you start laying the salad on plates, for now leave the whole plate and sprinkle all with aromatic herbs. It remains only to season our Greek salad with delicious olive oil!
The Greeks eat their famous salad with toasted white bread, dipping it in the resulting cheese and vegetable sauce. The taste after the salad is infused a little, unusual!
It was a recipe for âordinaryâ salad, which, if you have food, can be made at least every day and it wonât get bored. But for the festive table, you can slightly enrich this recipe and make a Greek salad with salmon. To do this, cut the slightly salted salmon into small pieces (it will take quite a bit) and add to the salad - the combination is excellent and this dish on the holiday table will surely be successful! You can decorate with large torn leaves of green salad.
Cook with pleasure, bon appetit!