Add shrimp and pasta to traditional vegetables and cheese and create unusual canapés and sandwiches.

How to make a classic Greek salad

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Traditional Greek salad is easy to make. The main rule is to use only fresh and high-quality products.

Ingredients

  • 2–3 tomatoes;
  • 1 cucumber;
  • 1 small red onion;
  • a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil;
  • 6–8 kalamata olives;
  • 100 g feta cheese;
  • salt - to taste;
  • 1-2 teaspoons dried oregano.

Preparation

All ingredients must be large. Small cubes may look more aesthetically pleasing, but they alienate the appearance of the salad from the original.


alive.com

The highlight of this salad is the beetroot spaghetti.

Ingredients

  • 2 large beets;
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil;
  • 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest;
  • 2 teaspoons lemon juice;
  • 1 clove of garlic;
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano;
  • ½ teaspoon;
  • salt - to taste;
  • 1 small red onion;
  • 1 small cucumber;
  • 1 yellow bell pepper;
  • a handful of olives;
  • 60 g feta cheese;
  • a few sprigs of mint.

Preparation

Peel the beets and cut into thin spirals using a vegetable slicer. Season the resulting spaghetti with 1 tablespoon of oil and stir. Cover a baking sheet with parchment, place the beets on it and place in an oven preheated to 200°C for 5–10 minutes. The beets should soften but still be slightly crunchy.

Meanwhile, combine lemon zest and juice, remaining oil, minced garlic, oregano, mustard, salt and pepper. Place the beets in a bowl, add the chopped onion and dressing. Stir and place on a serving plate.

Top with cucumber and pepper cubes, olives and small pieces of feta. Sprinkle the salad with mint leaves and ground black pepper.

4. “Greek salad” canapes with marinated feta

A completely different salad presentation for a buffet or big party.

Ingredients

  • 4–5 tablespoons olive oil;
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice;
  • several sprigs of dill;
  • several sprigs of parsley;
  • salt - to taste;
  • ground black pepper - to taste;
  • a pinch of ground red pepper;
  • 200–300 g feta cheese;
  • a handful of cherry tomatoes;
  • 1 cucumber;
  • handful of kalamata olives.

Preparation

Mix oil, lemon juice, chopped herbs and spices. Cut the feta into large cubes, add to the marinade, stir and leave for 15 minutes.

Cut the tomatoes in half and cut the cucumbers into thick semicircular slices. Place half a tomato, a cucumber slice, an olive and a cube of cheese on each skewer.


marthastewart.com

Non-standard design for those who like to experiment.

Ingredients

  • 150 g canned or boiled;
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice;
  • 3 ½ tablespoons olive oil;
  • ¼ bunch of parsley;
  • ½ small red onion;
  • salt - to taste;
  • ground black pepper - to taste;
  • 80 g feta cheese;
  • 8 slices of bread;
  • 1 cucumber;
  • 1 tomato.

Preparation

Grind the chickpeas in a blender, add 1 tablespoon each of lemon juice and oil, as well as chopped parsley. Cut the onion into thin half rings, add the remaining lemon juice, ½ tablespoon of oil, salt and pepper and stir. In a separate container, mash the feta with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Spread chickpea paste on 4 bread slices. Top with cucumbers and tomatoes, cut into thin slices, and onions. Spread feta onto remaining slices of bread and top sandwiches.

When we asked our friends, who have been coming to Greece on holiday from different parts of the world for many years in a row, what attracts them to this country, they answered with a smile: “Clean sea, gentle sun, always fresh seafood, delicious wine, Greek hospitality, and, of course, the most delicious Greek salad in the world..."

Indeed, in the catalogs of the world's best restaurants, along with the most exquisite dishes, Greek salad occupies not the last place.

Greek salad, in its homeland usually called “horiatiki” - rustic, got its name due to the fact that its components: onions, olives, sweet green peppers, as well as cucumbers, tomatoes and olive oil - these are those simple and familiar products that which the Greek peasants ate.

It all started with tomatoes

However, tomatoes, as well as the salad itself, appeared on the Greek table relatively recently.

It is known that tomatoes were brought to Europe by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century, and they came to Greece only in 1818 along with potatoes.

They were brought to Greece by wandering Catholic monks. At first, tomatoes were grown as ornamental plants to decorate monastic lands - their fruits were considered poisonous. And only since 1825 they began to cultivate for food in almost all regions of the country.

At first, tomatoes were mistaken for exotic fruits. The Greeks ate tomatoes the way they were used to eating fruits: biting off pieces from the whole fruit, eating them with bread and cheese.

However, vegetables, even such as onions, were not cut - they were also consumed whole. Fortunately, the pale purple onions were sweet and fragrant.

The history of salad

As a separate dish, salad appeared thanks to one curious incident.

In 1909, a Greek economic emigrant who had worked for many years in America in a weaving factory went to his home village for his nephew's wedding.

In a foreign land, he was very homesick for his homeland, Greek olives, olive oil, unique cheese, and ripe vegetables that were grown in his village.

On the way home he got a toothache. At home, the damned tooth started to hurt. My sister advised me to rinse it with ouzo, aniseed vodka. The acute pain gradually subsided.

It was dinner time. The sister gathered for the table: bread, olives, cheese, some vegetables. But the tooth kept aching and did not allow me to bite vegetables, as was customary.

Then a smart man found a way out - without thinking twice, he crumbled all the food into pieces into a clay bowl, added a handful of olives to it, put a large piece of Feta on top, poured it with rustic olive oil, and began to gobble it up with great pleasure.

My sister also tried the new dish, and she really liked it. She decided to surprise the neighbors and serve it at the wedding table. The salad was appreciated!

Since then, village salad has become a favorite and main dish of Greek cuisine.

Cheese for Greek salad

If tomato is the king of Greek salad, then feta is the queen.

If you don't put Feta cheese in the salad, it will be a regular vegetable salad. It is Feta that gives the rustic salad a unique flavor, a kind of Greek charm.

Real Feta is made only in Greece in a special way from a mixture of 70% sheep and 30% goat milk. Feta goes through a very complex and long process of production and subsequent processing, developed over centuries.

Homer, in his poem “The Odyssey,” says that the Cyclops Polyphemus was the first cheese maker, which, according to the descriptions of the ancient Greek poet, was very similar to Feta.

The specific aroma of Greek Feta is the aroma of herbs that feed sheep and goats grazing in the meadows of Macedonia, Thrace, Epirus, Thessaly, Central Greece, the Peloponnese, and the islands of Lesbos and Crete.

And only in these, and in no other areas of Greece, is this wonderful product prepared.

Feta has a spicy taste that cannot be confused with any other - tart, slightly salty, with a slight hint of sourness.

It belongs to the soft varieties of light cheeses. When cutting cheese into pieces, it should not crumble and leave no marks on the surface of the knife.

Feta contains no more than 43% fat and 56% moisture.

The color of Feta should be white, like Pendelian marble.

For all these undeniable advantages, the cheese was given the brand “Feta”, and no other white cheeses made outside of Greece can be called that.

Here she is, the Greek queen of Feta cheeses, and she occupies a royal place in the Greek salad - at its very top!

Calorie content, benefits and some statistics

Greek salad is popular not only in Greece itself, but also far beyond its borders.

When asked by the famous catering company Grub Hub Seamless: “What is the favorite dish for American lunch clerks?” over twenty-five thousand restaurants and fast foods across America gave the answer: “Greek Salad.”

And to the question: “Why do customers give such preference to Greek salad, and not the same classic vegetable green salad made from lettuce?”, it was explained that Greek salad contains a larger amount of complete proteins, fats and vitamins, contains a more diverse quality ingredients and amazing taste.

In Greece there is no tavern, restaurant, or snack bar where Khoriatiki is not served.

It goes well with any meat, fish or seafood dishes served on the table.

It can also be an excellent independent snack with any wine or other stronger drink.

The calorie content of salad in Greek and Russian sources is not the same: a serving of 200 grams is estimated by the Greeks at 415 kcal, while Russian cooks estimate only 320 kcal.

A 100-gram serving of classic Greek salad with Feta cheese contains:

  • proteins – 4.6 g;
  • fats – 3.8 g;
  • carbohydrates – 4 g;
  • glycemic index – 30.

The Guinness record was set by residents of the town of Ierapetra, in Crete, who prepared the world's largest portion of Greek salad from seven tons of tomatoes, three tons of cucumbers, two tons of peppers and one ton of onions. The salad took 800 kg of Feta and 500 liters of olive oil!

Greek salad dressing: composition, recipe

The unique taste of this dish is determined not only by the composition and quality of the products included in it, but also by the set of ingredients used for dressing.

The basis of the sauce for Greek salad is good quality olive oil, preferably cold pressed.

In Greek cuisine, other types of base are rarely used, preferring to season all vegetable dishes with olive oil rather than mayonnaise or similar sauces.

Firstly, because olive oil contains a unique flavor and aromatic bouquet.

Secondly, entire treatises have been written about the benefits of olive oil, starting from the time of Hippocrates and ending with the latest scientific research in the field of nutrition and medicine.

In the taverns of Greece, the classic village salad is seasoned with either a mixture of olive oil, lemon and herbs - oregano (oregano), in Greek - “rigani”, and thyme - “fimari”, sometimes parsley is also added.

Or, leaving the same base, add high-quality wine or balsamic vinegar. It all depends on the taste preferences of the chef preparing the salad.

It is advisable to make the dressing in advance so that it infuses and acquires the taste and aroma of spices.

So, for dressing for a real Greek salad we will need:

  • good quality olive oil, preferably cold pressed (5-6 tablespoons);
  • one medium-sized lemon, or wine or balsamic vinegar (0.5-1 tablespoon to taste);
  • oregano or thyme.

Mix the oil, lemon juice and aromatic herbs, whisking all the ingredients with a pastry whisk.

Leave the dressing to infuse and start preparing the dish.

Classic Greek salad recipe: ingredients, how to prepare

To prepare Khoriatiki, as it is prepared by housewives in Greece, we need to have the following products:

  • four medium-sized tomatoes (not soft and unripe);
  • one large or two medium cucumbers;
  • one or two large sweet peppers;
  • one head of onion, preferably sweet, pale purple in color;
  • Greek Feta cheese – 100-150 grams;
  • some “kalamon” olives – 6-8 pieces;
  • capers – 50 grams.

Now, attention! Step-by-step guide to proper preparation:

The main secret is that all vegetables are cut into large pieces and laid in layers.

    1. Wash the vegetables and dry them with a paper towel.
    2. Peel the cucumbers from the outer skin and cut them into circles of medium thickness - this will be the first layer of our salad.
    3. Then cut the sweet green pepper into half rings and place on top of the cucumbers.
    4. First cut the tomatoes into two halves, peel the stems from the halves, then cut them in half again and lay them in an even layer.
    5. Cut the onions into thin half rings, rinse them in cold water, squeeze them and place them on top of the tomatoes.
    6. Capers and olives are placed on top as a decorative element of the salad.
    7. We fill everything with a dressing of olive oil, oregano and lemon juice; it has already infused and acquired a specific aroma that will favorably emphasize the taste of fresh vegetables.
    8. Do not stir or add salt to the salad before serving. Top the dish with a piece of Feta, pour olive oil on top and sprinkle with oregano.

Salad ready. Pepper, salt and mix before the salad is placed on plates, immediately before eating.
Kali orexy! Bon appetit!

As I said in my previous article, Greek salad literally means country salad. Again, in the previous article I described in detail how it is prepared. Now, I want to show you step by step how to do it correctly.

But this is correct in the opinion of the Greeks, and in our opinion, we are doing the right thing. So don't try to do everything exactly in Greek. Do as you please. Choose the recipe that you like best.

Check out the previous article. Check this one out. I hope you enjoy it. Moreover, Greek salad does not allow major changes. So, a few little things. But these little things make it different among different cooks.

How to prepare Greek salad, step-by-step recipes for classic Greek salad with photos

We already know that the best salad is not the one that is prepared in the place where it was born. And the best salad is the one you prepare yourself. Well, let's cook.

1. Classic recipe for Greek salad with feta cheese

Ingredients:

  • Tomatoes
  • cucumbers
  • Red onion
  • Olive oil
  • Chees Feta
  • Salt, pepper (optional)
  • Oregano
  • Olives (olives)
  • Green bell pepper - several rings

Preparation:

I have not listed the quantity of each product here. You can take it depending on how you like a particular product. Of course, if you chop up a cupful of cucumbers and add a couple of olives to them, it won't be a Greek salad. Therefore, we act wisely. We select the ingredients so that there are approximately equal amounts of them in the salad.

1. Peel the cucumber and cut into large pieces into a dish. I also mentioned in the previous article that the Greeks cut everything large. Therefore, we follow their example and chop everything large.

2. We also cut the tomatoes into large pieces. I forgot to mention that we pre-washed all the vegetables.

3. Peel the onion and cut into not very large half rings. If you have sweet onions, that's very good. Use it. Although I know that many people love the bitterness and spiciness of onions in salads.

4. Cut several rings from a large green pepper into the salad.

5. Break feta cheese into large pieces. No feta, you can replace it with feta cheese or other similar cheese. Or even just some soft, beloved one.

6. Lay out a few olives and sprinkle with dry oregano. Add all this to taste. We prefer pitted olives, especially to serve to guests. The Greeks, on the contrary, prefer it with seeds, they say they taste better.

7. Drizzle all this with olive oil. Olive oil gives a special taste to the salad. And in Greece this is not an elite oil, everyone uses it. Again, add oil to your liking. But don't overdo it.

If desired, you can add a little pepper. There is no need to add salt. Salted cheese and olives. If you like, add a little salt to the bread before you start frying.

8. Place a couple of pieces of bread on the grill, frying pan, grill, or whatever you like. Drizzle them with olive oil on one side, fry, sprinkle with oregano. Turn over, pour oil on the other side, fry and also sprinkle with oregano.

9. Fry until golden brown. Serve with salad.

OK it's all over Now. All that remains is to put a bottle of white wine on the table, pour it into a glass and....

Bon appetit!

2. Greek salad recipe a little our way

Ingredients:

  • Lettuce leaves
  • Large fresh bell pepper - 1 pc.
  • Large fresh tomato - 1 pc.
  • Medium fresh cucumbers - 3 pcs.
  • Pitted olives - 50 g.
  • Medium onion head - 1 pc.
  • Feta cheese - 50 g.
Refueling:
  • Fresh basil (can substitute 1 tsp dried basil)
  • Dried oregano - 1 tsp.
  • Lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l.
  • Salt, ground black pepper to taste
  • Olive oil - 50 – 70 ml.

Preparation:

First, let's refuel.

1. Finely chop the basil and pour into a deep cup. Add oregano to it. Add lemon juice. Sprinkle with black pepper and a little salt. To your taste. Add olive oil and mix everything.

Our gas station is ready. Let's put it aside for now.

2. Cut off the ends of the cucumbers on both sides, cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise and cut into large half rings. Our cucumbers are young, so we don’t peel them. If you have old, large ones, where the skin is very thick, it is still better to clean it. Transfer the cucumbers to a deep bowl.

3. Cut the tomato in half, remove the stem and cut into large cubes. We send to cucumbers.

4. Peel the onion, cut in half and cut into thin half rings.

5. Send the onions to the cucumbers and tomatoes. Using your hands, split it into separate strips directly over the bowl.

6. Peel the bell pepper, remove the seeds and veins and cut into large cubes. Place the chopped peppers in a bowl with other vegetables.

7. Add olives there. Pour the dressing we prepared over everything, add a little salt and mix everything.

8. Cut off the hard part of the stem from the leaves of the green salad and place it on a plate on which we will serve the Greek salad.

9. Place the vegetable salad we have prepared on the green lettuce leaves. And immediately lay out the most important ingredient, cheese, cutting it into large cubes.

Now our Greek salad is completely ready.

Look how beautiful, bright, juicy and aromatic it turned out.

Bon appetit!

3. Video - Greek salad. Classic Greek salad recipe

Bon appetit!

“Greek” salad, which came to us from the country of the same name, is a frequent guest on the table, whether festive or ordinary. The Greek salad recipe at home is easy to prepare, it only takes 10 minutes maximum. A tasty, cheap, and also very healthy snack is Greek salad with croutons. Treat your family to this treat, cook with us!

One recipe for this salad includes vegetables, creamy Feta and dressing. The dish turns out to be light, but at the same time satisfying due to the cream cheese, which, together with the butter dressing, provides the main calorie content.

What you need for Greek salad:

  • Tomatoes – 140 g;
  • Fresh cucumbers – 130 g;
  • Sweet pepper – 110 g;
  • Olives – 80 g;
  • Cheese – 150 g;
  • Purple onion – 90 g;
  • Green salad leaves – 140 g;
  • Sunflower oil – 40 ml;
  • Salt - 12 g;
  • Black pepper – 6 g;
  • Juice of half a lemon.

Greek salad - a simple recipe:

  1. Fresh vegetables must be prepared in advance for further cooking. Processing vegetables involves washing each product and then drying it so that there is no excess moisture in the dish.
  2. Cut the tomatoes into slices, not forgetting to get rid of the stalk, cucumbers - into rings, not forgetting to trim the edges of the fruit.
  3. The pepper should be separated from the seeds and chopped into thin strips.
  4. Peel the onion, cut in half and chop into half rings.
  5. Tear green lettuce leaves into large leaves with your hands.
  6. First put green leaves in a large bowl, then tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, purple onions, pour olives from a jar.
  7. Feta crumbles very well, this cheese is difficult to cut into even cubes, so you need to break it into pieces and add to a common bowl.
  8. To make the dressing, mix the oil and lemon juice, add salt and pepper.
  9. Season the salad with the resulting sauce and mix.

Greek salad - a simple recipe

In fact, a “Greek” salad can look quite simplified, include very few products, but at the same time remain just as tasty and rich. The most important thing is to know the required proportions and ingredients.

Ingredients needed (for 4 servings):

  • Tomatoes – 230 g;
  • Cheese – 140 g;
  • Greens – 50 g;
  • Salad – 60 g;
  • Sweet pepper – 110 g;
  • Olives – 90 g;
  • Vegetable oil – 50 ml;
  • Salt – 13 g;
  • Dry oregano – 22 g.

Simple Greek salad - preparation:

  1. Wash the tomatoes and wipe with paper napkins. Cut into large pieces.
  2. Rinse the bell pepper, remove seeds from the fruit, and chop coarsely.
  3. Rinse greens and lettuce leaves and dry.
  4. Tear lettuce leaves into pieces.
  5. Break the cheese into pieces.
  6. To season with olive oil, add dry oregano and salt.
  7. Place tomatoes, peppers in a deep bowl, pour in olives, add washed herbs to your liking, add cheese and lettuce pieces.
  8. Pour over the dressing and stir.

You can also try cooking, the preparation of which will not take much of your time.

Delicious Greek salad - recipe

Avocado has a wonderful, buttery taste and delicate texture. Many people love adding this fruit to salad, and in combination with cream cheese, the result is simply wonderful.

Ingredients required (for 4 servings):

  • Tomatoes – 120 g;
  • Fresh cucumbers – 140 g;
  • Sweet pepper (yellow) – 130 g;
  • Pitted olives – 70 g;
  • Cheese – 110 g;
  • Sweet onion – 80 g;
  • Green lettuce leaves – 130 g;
  • Avocado – 120 g;
  • Vegetable oil – 40 ml;
  • Salt - 12 g;
  • Black pepper – 6 g;
  • Juice of half a lemon.

Greek salad step by step:

  1. Vegetables need to be processed in advance. It is worth rinsing them under running water and then drying them with paper towels. Be sure to disassemble the salad into leaves, and only then wash it so that no dirt remains near the root.
  2. Cut the tomatoes into slices, without the stalk, cucumbers into rings, cutting off both sides.
  3. The bell pepper needs to be peeled and chopped.
  4. Peel the onion and cut into halves of rings.
  5. Cut green lettuce leaves into arbitrary segments.
  6. Peel the skin from the avocado and scoop out the ripe pulp with a spoon. Then you need to cut it into cubes.
  7. Place salad on a serving plate, then tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, sweet onions, add olives and avocado.
  8. To make the dressing, mix the oil with lemon juice, add salt and pepper.
  9. Grind the cheese and put it in the sauce, let it brew for a while.
  10. Pour the dressing over the salad and stir all the ingredients.

Greek salad without olives has a huge number of variations, each of which is sure to find its consumer. After all, the classic dish recipe is loved by many, and varieties of snacks with original additives are sometimes so unusual that they can surprise anyone, even the most inveterate gourmet.

The most important thing about a Greek salad is the fresh ingredients, not the cutting or serving. The Greeks usually cut their salad into large pieces, and put the olives right with the pit, and the Greek olives have a buttery taste. The main herb in the salad is oregano and a little basil is added.

Cucumbers, shallots, and olive oil are often used in the salad. In general, various tricks and variations are allowed here. After all, Greek salad is a simple version of country salad, made from the most basic ingredients found in every country house.

Often, instead of shallots, recipes use sweet salad onions or even regular onions. Olive oil can be replaced with sunflower oil. It is better to take pitted olives. If you don’t have oregano and basil, you can replace them with simple lettuce leaves or any fresh herbs from the garden - the main thing is that it will be a summer and light salad.

An important ingredient, feta cheese, can be found everywhere today, but in extreme cases it can be replaced with Adyghe cheese, feta cheese.

Greek salad according to the classic recipe

Ingredients:

  • cucumber - 2 pcs.;
  • bell pepper - 1 pc.;
  • tomato with dense pulp - 2 pcs.;
  • medium-sized Crimean blue onion - 1 pc.;
  • olives, large and pitted - 20 pcs.;
  • olive oil - 2-3 tbsp. l.;
  • feta cheese - 80-100 gr.;
  • oregano - ½ tsp. dry grass;
  • lemon juice - 1-1.5 tbsp. l.;
  • salt, pepper - to taste.

Cooking process

Wash all vegetables. Cut cucumbers and tomatoes into large pieces (2-2.5 cm). Cucumbers can be peeled first if the peel is too hard.

Chop the blue onion into half rings. Peel the peppers from seeds and white membranes, cut into 2-2.5 cm squares. Olives can be left whole or cut in half.

Place the vegetables in a salad bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything carefully with two large spatulas.

Beat olive oil with lemon juice, add oregano to it, slightly rubbing the herb with your fingers. Season the salad with the resulting sauce.

Cut feta cheese into large pieces, similar to vegetables, and place on top of the salad. Throw a pinch of oregano on top. Salad ready.

It is allowed to replace part of the onion with garlic in the salad, but the cloves will have to be chopped into small cubes with a knife.

Options for preparing ingredients for Greek salad

Onion


Onions for Greek salad

Onions can be pre-marinated before adding to the salad. The easiest way is to chop the onion and pour it with a mixture of vinegar (3 parts) and sugar (2 parts) with a pinch of salt. Let stand for half an hour, drain in a colander and add to other vegetables.

To reduce bitterness, you can cut the onion smaller or mix two varieties - white and blue onions in the desired proportion of 1:2 or 1:1.

cucumbers


Cucumbers for Greek salad

Cucumbers can be cut figuratively or, for example, alternating pieces with the peel removed and with the peel left. The zebra cucumber looks beautiful in a salad when every piece in the salad looks white and green.

Tomatoes


Tomatoes for Greek salad

With tomatoes, it is better to experiment not with cutting, but with a combination of different varieties and colors. Cherry tomatoes look great in a salad. They need to be cut in half. The colors combine red and orange fruits well. It looks impressive, and besides, rich and low-acid orange tomatoes will add meatiness to the salad, reducing the sourness. If desired, you can even peel the tomatoes by scalding them with boiling water.

Pepper


Pepper for Greek salad

A multi-color option is also suitable with pepper. In this case, it is better to cut fruits of different colors into thin strips rather than into cubes. For those who like to experiment, there is an unusual idea: peel the vegetable with a sharp knife or peeler. This option is for those who want to add sublimity and a delicate taste to the dish; it is also perfect for serving Greek salad on a holiday table.

How to replace feta cheese

Typically in Russian cuisine, feta cheese is replaced with salted feta cheese; a product made from goat's milk is especially suitable.

As a last resort, you can take large pieces of processed cheese with a strong flavor of herbs or smoked meats. In this case, the salad needs a little more salt.

Another option for Greek salad is with Dutch cheese. You just need to make the pieces smaller. This recipe is no longer a classic, but it may well appeal, especially to men.

How to dress a Greek salad

A classic Greek salad is dressed with a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil and fresh or dried oregano. But if for some reason you cannot find these components or you want to diversify the taste of your favorite dish, the option of mixing other seasonings and herbs is allowed. For example, you can add coarsely torn lettuce leaves of different varieties (curly, iceberg) and chopped wild garlic strips to the dish. According to your taste, you can include thyme and parsley in the dish.

For housewives who love experiments, as a bold idea, you can suggest seasoning a portion of Greek salad with honey-mustard sauce.

Honey mustard sauce: an unusual and tasty dressing option

Take medium or mild mustard (can be with grains), honey and olive oil in a ratio of 1:1:2. Mix everything and beat with a whisk. If the sauce is too thick, add more oil. Serve with salad in a separate sauce boat.

You can also vary the dressing for Greek salad by adding other oils (mustard, corn, sesame), bread crumbs or toasted salted croutons for flavor. Those who like a strong taste can add garlic to the sauce, passed through a garlic press.

If you used lightly salted cheese for your salad, such as feta cheese or Dutch cheese, try using a dressing recipe with soy sauce, which is traditionally salty and rich.


Ingredients:

  • olive oil - 2 tbsp. spoons;
  • soy sauce - 1 tbsp. spoon;
  • apple cider vinegar - 1 tbsp. spoon;
  • mustard (medium or low heat) - 1 teaspoon.

To prepare the sauce, whisk all ingredients. Serve the dressing separately in a gravy boat.

Greek salad with oregano, dill and mint: step-by-step recipe

Ingredients:

  • cucumber - 2 pcs.;
  • cherry tomatoes - 300 gr.;
  • sweet yellow pepper - 1 pc.;
  • handfuls of black olives;
  • mint leaves - to taste;
  • wine vinegar (can be replaced with apple cider vinegar) - 1 tbsp. l.;
  • vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. l.;
  • oregano - 1 tsp;
  • salt - to taste;
  • salad onion - 1 head;
  • dill and lettuce - to taste;
  • feta cheese - 200-300 g.

Cooking process

Wash all vegetables and dry off excess water. Cut the cucumbers into medium pieces. Cut cherry tomatoes in half or into 4 parts. Place cucumbers and tomatoes in a deep dish.

Cut the pepper into large strips. It is advisable to use yellow peppers so that the colors in the dish blend beautifully.

Add pepper to cucumbers and tomatoes. Cut the onion into thin half rings and separate into thin strips. Add to the dish, mix everything carefully.

Finely chop mint leaves, dill and other greens and add to the total mixture in the dish. Season the salad with salt and pepper, add olives or black olives, mix everything.

Making salad dressing

Pour 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (or other vegetable) into a deep bowl and add a teaspoon of wine vinegar to it. Stir and add half a teaspoon of oregano. Mix everything thoroughly.

Season the salad with the prepared dressing, leaving a little, a little more than a teaspoon. Mix the salad.

Place lettuce leaves on a serving dish and place half of the total mass of vegetables from the bowl on them. Distribute the salad evenly throughout the dish.

Cut the cheese into cubes the size of the olives. Place some of the cheese in a cup with the remaining dressing and roll the cheese in it, so the pieces will not stick together. Plus, these pieces look beautiful.

Carefully place the cheese with some of the dressing on a plate with half of the salad. Place the other half of the vegetable mass on top of the cheese. Carefully level everything out. Place the remaining cheese in the bowl where the salad was, add a spoonful of olive oil, sprinkle oregano on top and mix everything.

Place the cheese and oregano into the salad and spread it over the surface. Sprinkle a little oregano on top of the entire mound of salad. In total, the entire salad will use about 1 teaspoon of oregano. Serve the Greek salad.


You can decorate the salad with a mint leaf.

Tricks and options for serving Greek salad

The portioned serving of salad, practiced in restaurants in Greece, is interesting. It is extremely laconic: the client receives a deep plate of vegetables without sliced ​​cheese. All the cheese lies in one piece on top of the vegetable slices. Thus, the client himself decides how he will eat it.

Likewise, the sauce is now almost always served in a separate container for each serving. So everyone will determine for themselves how much and when they need to add dressing to the Greek salad.

This is very convenient for the housewife. As long as the salad is not seasoned with sauce, it keeps better. You can chop the vegetables a few hours before the guests arrive, and pour the sauce over them before serving. Moreover, if possible, the salad should be dressed after serving portions, so that guests do not have to worry about putting salad on their plates and distributing the sauce.

Sometimes very large pieces of vegetables and cheese are mixed in a salad without much stirring. Many people don’t like serving in large pieces, but it has its advantages: those who don’t like onions or olives can easily remove them.