August 8th
2007
I am all for simple things. That's why it's a bit of a shame to admit, that I don't remember when I last ordered a Greek salad or made one myself before we embarked on our journey. The ingredients list is more or less known to everybody, every item is a true pleaser to my palate and yet - why is it, that despite its simplicity the biggest food surprise of our holidays is this basic salad?
We have had the pleasure to spend some wonderful days with friends sailing the Aegean Sea (more on the trip soon) and eating our way through the Greek cuisine. Take my word for it. Our friend and skipper Georg, who knows the region like the back of his hand, guided us well from the most beautiful, deserted coves to pristine islands and local, tourist-free taverns. Ah yes, the food! If you think, that all Greek cuisine brings to the table is fat-dripping and heavy, think again. The most unbelievable and amazing dinner we had at a little tavern Georg had been to before and the few words he exchanged with the waiter - he simply said "You decide!" - left us both totally clueless about what was going to happen and excited!
Of course we fully trusted him but what came next I can only vaguely put back together. Ouzo-tinted, blurry memories about a true feast including 29 plates (for the eight of us) filled with an overwhelming variety of Greek mezethes, meat, seafood and - of course - the freshest Greek salads. The abundance of food left nothing to wish for (there couldn't possibly have been anything on the menu that wasn't on our table) and entailed an adequate balance of different textures and flavors — smooth and crunchy took turns with hot and cold as well as spicy and mild dishes. To this day, we couldn't settle on the exact number of Mythos bottles and Ouzo mugs we had that night, our waiter was just too quick refilling our empty glasses... I'm going astray...where was I?
Back to the Greek salad. This salad is as outstanding as the ingredients you choose, simple yet incredible tasty. Its chunky texture and the lavish use of raw onions adds to its fresh apperance. Same with the dressing, which should be applied right at the table. Believe it or not, not a single meal we had - whether homemade on board or at a Greek tavern - came without a Greek salad as a side. That's how good this salad is!
Peel the cucumber, divide lengthways, then slice thickly. Cut out and remove the stem of the tomatoes and cut their flesh into thick slices or larger chunks. 'Till now I couldn't find equally palatable beef tomatoes they used in Greece, that's why I went with the next best thing, egg tomatoes. Peel the red onion and cut in half lengthways, then slice. Lastly, dice the feta in bite-size cubes.
Nicely arrange the prepared veggies and cheese in a big bowl and decorate with Calamata olives. Best dressed right at the table with sea salt (be frugal, as the olives and feta are pretty salty), freshly ground black pepper, good olive oil and white wine vinegar (which isn't a must for me). On two occasions the salad we ordered in Greece was served sprinkled with dried oregano - an unnecessary addition if you ask me, at least if all of the ingredients are sun-kissed and darn tasty, but you decide.
Back home we enjoyed our memory salad with some sesame sprinkled flat bread from the Greek grocery shop around the corner and kept wondering, between which Greek islands Sheria ("our" sailing yacht) might be this very moment...
Greek Salad
Recipe source: own creation
Prep time: 10min.
.
Ingredients (snack or side dish for 2, amounts can be adapted to personal preferences):
1 cucumber
2 large egg tomatoes
1 large red onion
1 thumb-thick slice of feta (~ 200g)
10 (or more) Calamata olives
optional: dried oregano
dress with sea salt, freshly ground back pepper, good olive oil and white wine vinegar
serve with white bread
I've been to Greece thrice, and have had amazing food each and every time. The salad was always there, though I did notice that the feta was usually (say, 80% of the time) served as a thick slice over the salad, and not cubed and scattered on top - be it in Athens, Santorini, Portaria, Sifnos or Volos. A Greek blogger thought it may have been because the proprietor wants to ensure you about the quality of feta cheese (ie that it's a good quality whole feta cheese she/he is using). I don't mind dried oregano on my salad at all, as it's a herb I associate heavily with Greece.
I'm off to read (again) some of my Greek cookbooks :)
Living in Italy, I don't hear much about Greek food, but I really enjoyed the cuisine when I went there a few years ago! It was surprising. Where was that sunset picture taken?
one of my favourite salad but the feta cheese and the onion are not in France as good as in Greece. Your pictures are great.
Marie- Paris
Hi Nicky and thank you for your excellent recipes! The Greek salad you prepared is so authentic!!! I think that the most important thing when preparing this salad is the freshness of the ingredients. We have prepared it so many times at home with freshly cut vegetables...unforgettable experience.
We've been to Greece so many times and always loved the food! Have you tried dolmades? they're my favourite!
This is the kind of salad I bring to BBQs or picnics, because it's a crowd pleaser and easy to eat. Beautiful photography!
That salad looks gorgeous. I am so in love with feta right now. While I've never had the pleasure of traveling to Greece, I adore Mediterranean food. It's perfect for summer. So light and fresh.
Feta and calamata olives are two of the best flavors in the world.
I'm a long time reader of your blog and have tried many of your recipes, but I'm especially happy to find a Greek recipe on your blog! I have lived in Athens for two years and really miss Greek food.
I came across your blog and find it really nice!! Keep blogging!
You really can't go wrong with a Greek salad these days. In this heat, feta cheese and olives and some nice greens makes for just a perfectly lovely picnic. Which is about all the cooking I am prepared to do these days.
Cheers!
The sunset (sunrise?) looks so peaceful, where was the picture taken?
I like simple things too. Your greek salad is so colourful and lovely. :)
Your description of these Greek meals makes my mouth water. And makes me lament the fact that my passport is expired. :(
[...] the first Wanderlust Friday, I present a food-centric tale of travels in the Aegean Sea as posted by Nicky and Oliver on Delicious Days. Don’t miss the simple Greek salad recipe at [...]
I've never been to Greece, but order Greek salads from my local Greek diner when I'm feeling too lazy to cook. Though they're never as gorgeous as this. I can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!
Beautiful. If I had to choose a salad to have as my last meal, it would be the greek variety as pictured.
Mmmmmm--I'm eating this right now. I used dead-ripe tomatoes from our garden and fresh oregano. God it's good!
Give us more Greek recipes.
such lovely color there! I have greek tomorrow!
Lovely! I just returned from a month working in Greece and your post makes me miss it already!
very nice and easy recipe. i never tried the year i was at greece. funny. but there are many other great recipes from greece.
Dren, Sara, Ms. Adventures in Italy, The picture of the sunset was taken during our sailing trip in Greece, straight from the boat facing the coast line. It must have been somewhere along the Eastern coastline of Chalkidiki's second finger (Sithonia).
Linda, Of course we had dolmades! But we had so many different mezethes, it's almost impossible to decide, which was best - besides the many Greek salads ;)
Looking on your seducing picture I want to run and buy goat Feta and Greek big black olives and eat this salad till entering to food coma:)
Hallelujah for the simple horiatiki . . . well done Nicky! After living on Corfu, it used to drive me crazy when people would sneak bell peppers or (heresy) lettuce into the bowl and still try to pass it off as a Greek salad.
By the way, I just made a Greek feast for my friends last night and we decided to book a sailing trip around the Aegean for next year . . . thanks for the inspiration! I'll have to look for Georg's information . . .
swirlingnotions, You will have a fabulous time, please drop me a note upon return. Here is the link to "our boat", if you want to check it out (in German though...).
[...] The folks at Delicious Days took a vaca in Greece, but not before whipping up this Greek as Can Be Salad. [...]
Thanks Nicky . . . and congrats, congrats, CONGRATS on your book!
I have one favorite sense to cook simple and delicious recipes. That suits me good.
Thank you very much for making really "delicious mood" for me every day. I like the Mediterranean cuisine and its unmistakably Mediterranean character gives a particular attraction to Greek cuisine.
i adore greek salads too, especially with a very good feta cheese that's not too salty. recently i've been following nigella lawson's advice of soaking the red onions in the vinegar for about an hour which removes some of their pungency, which is good if the onions are very strong. they lose some of their textures but they go a beautiful shade of pink.