Healthy, Delicious Greek Salad

Greek salad, or also known as horiatiki, is a rough country salad of juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, fresh green peppers, crumbly feta cheese, sliced red onion, and plump Kalamata olives.
Healthy, Delicious Greek Salad
Fresh herbs and sumptuous produce make for a wonderful Greek treat. (Courtesy of Crete.com)
6/12/2009
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/greek_salad.jpg" alt="Fresh herbs and sumptuous produce make for a wonderful Greek treat. (Courtesy of Crete.com)" title="Fresh herbs and sumptuous produce make for a wonderful Greek treat. (Courtesy of Crete.com)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1827916"/></a>
Fresh herbs and sumptuous produce make for a wonderful Greek treat. (Courtesy of Crete.com)
Greek salad, or also known as horiatiki, is a rough country salad of juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, fresh green peppers, crumbly feta cheese, sliced red onion, and plump Kalamata olives. People in Greece, Turkey, and Spain offer different variations of the Greek salad, and they usually serve this delightful combination as a side dish, or just as a light meal with some crusty bread. Horiatiki variations may include romaine lettuce, mixed greens, chicken, tuna fish, and even pasta.

The Greek salads I have tried in the local San Francisco restaurants usually include many more ingredients for salad dressing than simply drizzled olive oil over the salad as in the original or the classic Greek salad. However, different variations of Greek salads are enjoyed around the world, and after you learn how to prepare the classic dish, you can create you own version of it. I’m offering you a recipe for creating a true horiatiki, the classic recipe to treat your friends and family with this simple, but healthy culinary delight, the kind my mother used to make!

Salad Ingredients:

1 large cucumber, chopped
3 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
5 ounces pitted Kalamata olives
4 ounces feta cheese sliced into small cubes, or crumbled feta cheese
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced (optional)
10 ounces romaine lettuce or baby greens (optional)

Olive Oil Dressing:

6 tablespoons extra light or virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano (optional)
1 teaspoon dried basil (optional)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (optional)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation: Mix the chopped cucumber, sliced tomatoes, sliced bell pepper, sliced red onion, romaine lettuce, or baby greens in a large serving bowl.

Greek Salad Dressing:

In a small bowl whisk olive oil, dried oregano, dried basil, garlic powder, Dijon mustard, and fresh lemon juice. Add salt and fresh ground pepper to taste.

Sprinkle or place the feta on top of the salad, toss in the Kalamata olives and drizzle the salad dressing. If you like this salty fish, a few anchovies can be added to the salad before tossing. Enjoy and stay fit!
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