Perfect summer salad of chopped tomatoes, green peppers and cucumber. I’ve included my preferred dressing, but you can always substitute your favorite vinaigrette, and add options kalamata olives if you like. And for my vegan friends — omit the cheese and it still tastes great.

Greek Salad

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: easy
  • Print

Ingredients

IMG_6572

  • 1 green bell pepper
  • 1 regular cucumber or 1/2 an English cucumber
  • 2 medium tomatoes
  • 1/2 c. crumbled feta (optional)
  • 1/4 c. pitted kalamata olives (optional)
  • 3/4 c. olive oil
  • 1/4 c. red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp. salt & pepper, or more to taste
  • 1/2 tsp. dijon mustard

Directions

  1. Chop the tomatoes, green peppers and cucumber into similar size pieces
  2. Crumble the feta & olives on top (if using)
  3. Place the remaining ingredients in a blender and process until smooth and pale
  4. Pour about 1/3 of the dressing on salad, and gently toss; refrigerate remaining dressing for another day
  5. Serve as is, or on a bed of lettuce.



Lessons Learned/Advice:

  • The vegetables are all similar sized so you can get the flavor of each in a mouthful;  I like to chop them small enough so a forkful will have a couple pieces of each
  • For the cucumber, no need to peel or seed — I just chop and put it all in
  • For the dressing, you can use a whisk if you prefer but I’ve found that the blender adds a lot of air and makes it very smooth
  • It’s easy to make this salad ahead and refrigerate; allow an hour to sit at room temperature before serving
  • Leftovers (salad already dressed) keep well in the fridge for a day or two
  • Counting calories or eliminating certain foods?  Skip the cheese, and dress with lemon juice, salt and pepper, or if you using the cheese, it even tastes great without any dressing at all.