Jeff’s Summer Greek Salad Recipe

Last year, Kristy and I visited Greece and had a fantastic time. One of the reasons I was so excited to go was that I was looking forward to experiencing the food. Of course, I’ve eaten a lot of Mediterranean food through the years, but I knew the real deal must be so much better, and guess what…. I was right!

While there, I tried many of the traditional dishes & dips, such as Moussaka, Dolmades, and Tzatziki! I fell in love with the complex flavors and spices, but what really set it apart was the freshness of the ingredients from cheese to sea food to the vegetables. The thing I enjoyed the most was the fresh greek salads that I had nightly with dinner.

I thought that I knew what a greek salad was, but I quickly came to realize that in Greece it doesn’t include lettuce. I enjoyed it so much more because without the lettuce the flavor is more intense.

When I got home, I found myself craving the crunch and taste of the traditional greek salad that I enjoyed so much while traveling.  I then set a goal to recreate that same fresh intense taste and have been making it constantly ever since…

Ingredients 

• 1 lb cherry tomatoes (multi-colored)
• 2 Bell Peppers (color of your choice)
• 1 Cucumber
• 1/4 Red Onion
• 1/4 White Onion
• 4 oz Crumbled Feta Cheese
• 3 oz Sliced Kalamata Olives (pitted) and about 1 tbs of the juice
• 4 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Dried Basil
• 1 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
• Salt & Pepper

 

Preparation 

• Chop the tomatoes and bell peppers into bite size pieces. I cut part of the bell pepper into chunks and part into thin slices.
• Using a peeler, peel the cucumber in stripes leaving about 1/3 of the skin on, then chop half into thin slices and the rest into chunks
• Cut the red and white onions into thin slides
• Place the vegetables into a bowl and add the olives along with about 1 tbs of the juice from the jar
• Now it’s time to make the dressing…
• In a small bowl combine the olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, basil, then salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine
• Add the dressing to the vegetables and mix it all together!
• Let sit 20 – 30 minutes mixing occasionally

Feel free to experiment with the amount and cut of each ingredient to make it a salad you come back to time and again. I hope you enjoy this Greek salad as much as we do!

Let us know in the comments if you made it! Click here to see more of my recipes.

-Jeff

 

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