A Greek Salad

Greek salad with chicken kebab

A great salad, very quick and easy that can stand alone or accompany a lot of other things.

A few notes to start

  • Think of this as a general formula subject to interpretation, you may want to add/remove stuff or change proportions and this is fine but I recommend starting with this template.
  • Feta is much more prone to spoil quickly than other cheeses so if you have some left, eat within 3 days or it will start to smell like bad feet.
  • The feta is easily replaceable with non dairy substitutes, you just want to have something with a stronger flavour so that it doesn’t get lost amongst the salad.
  • The raw onion can be contentious for some people and onions can vary hugely in harshness. To tackle this you have three options, beyond omitting it all together.
    • Spring onions or chives offer a much softer onion flavour
    • To make a raw onion milder, chop as you want it, place in a bowl and mix in 1 teaspoon of salt, leave for 10 minutes then rinse liberally in lots of cold water. This should make them much milder.
    • Fry the onion for 5 minutes then add to the salad.
Greek salad ingredients

Ingredients

Recipe does 2 x portions.

  • 2-3 peppers (depending how big) – mixed colours to your liking
  • 1 large or 2 medium vine tomatoes
  • 10cm of cucumber
  • 2-3 spring onions, chives or 1 x small red onion (or shallots)
  • A handful of olives (if you like and whatever is your favourite)
  • 1/2 tsp of sea salt and a good grind of black pepper
  • 2 tsp dried oregano (or mixed dried herbs)
  • 1 x tbsp of sherry or red wine vinegar
  • 3 x tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
  • 150g of feta diced into cubes

This salad is simply a case of chopping everything into roughly even sized dice (little squares) and mixing together in a bowl with the herbs and remaining ingredients except the feta.

The feta is gently added at the end just as you serve, otherwise it can easily get smashed into bits.

That’s it.

If you want to prepare ahead simply chop the vegetables but leave out the salt, herbs, pepper, oil and vinegar until you are ready.

Accompaniments

A greek salad can be eaten alone but pairs well with the following:

  • An omelette
  • Potato – A baked potato, chips or roasted new potatoes with rosemary
  • Falafel
  • A grilled kebab of chicken (thigh or breast) or lamb (diced leg)

A simple meat kebab

Kebabs are a popular choice amongst a lot of hotter climates, not least because they are a practical option to cook over fire outdoors but also because cutting meat into smaller pieces and marinading has multiple purposes of tenderising and flavouring whilst also preserving for longer.

The larger surface area of a kebab also lends to greater searing across the meat which maximises flavour but also offers a nice contrast when paired with the freshness of salads.

  • Dice your meat into chunks roughly 3cm x 3 cm and marinate ( for at least 1 hour if possible) in:
    • 1 x lemon, zest and juice
    • 1 x tbsp clear honey
    • 1 x tsp dried herbs, or oregano, or rosemary
    • 3 x tbsp olive oil
    • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    • Skewer or a kebab stick and grill on the barbecue or under a hot grill.