Here’s my journey to the creation of an easy Greek salad recipe. In America, I love how we can take a more traditional cuisine and make it into a hybrid dish where it still has an amazing outcome- think Asian fusion, Tex Mex, etc. It is ingrained in our culture in a way that we generally don’t know what it originally started as unless we are from or have a particular tie to that culture. So imagine when I first learned from a dear friend of mine who is Greek that the traditional version of a Greek salad is actually lettuce-free.
I had been used to an Americanized version that included lettuce. When I finally experienced a true Horiatiki, I was blown away. I was in Crete in summer 2017 and ordered one in a little village near the pink-sanded beach of Elafonisi. That big beautiful piece of feta on top with the chunks of cucumber and tomato forever changed my expectations.
Ever since that trip, unless I can find an authentic Greek restaurant to order it from, I choose to make my own Greek salad. It has gotten better and better. I sometimes I add more cucumber and less tomato, less red wine, more oregano, and on and on, forever chasing that first bite of the traditional Horiatiki I experienced in the Greek islands. The closest I have come is the version I am sharing with you now.
There are two major differences in this recipe. I removed the red onion (I am not an onion lover), but please free to add as it is truly the most traditional with onion! The second difference is the smaller portion of feta I measured. A great deal of dairy here in the States has inflammatory properties that our guts cannot tolerate. Feta does have many less allergens than cow dairy and is easier to digest, but still, in the wake current sake of the American dairy system and its issues, let’s lessen the dairy in this glorious, easy Greek salad recipe.
So here goes…
Easy Greek Salad Recipe:
Serves 2
1 medium organic cucumber (cut lengthwise and across)
1 medium ripened organic tomato (cut in half first, can leave seeds in)
2 tbsps of kalamata and green olives (pitted)
1/4 piece of block of feta (can crumble or cut into small squares)
** 1/2 red onion (slice or chop for onion lovers)
Toss oregano on top for added flavor
Sprinkle seal salt to taste
1 tbsp of cold-pressed olive oil
1 splash of red wine
Stir and serve
Enjoy guys! You, your family, party guests, whoever, will love this traditional easy Greek salad recipe, I guarantee it!
XOXO and homemade with love,
Leave a Reply