The Greek salad (Horiatiki salata) is a fresh and tasty salad typical of Greek cuisine, usually served as a main course, but often restaurateurs offer a small portion to customers while they wait for the main courses.
Born in the rural regions of Greece, it has established itself over time as a symbol of the Greek table and the Mediterranean diet. Simple, fresh, and rich in flavor, it contains few ingredients that perfectly complement each other: ripe tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, olives, and feta are enriched with a dressing based on extra virgin olive oil, salt, and oregano.
Salads are ideal at this time, always different but balanced and tasty meals; if you don’t know it, try the Niçoise salad or the tuna potato salad, simple dishes perfect for work or a quick lunch at the beach.
The recipe I propose today is the original version of Greek salad, but sometimes, depending on the area you are in, you will notice small variations such as green peppers (in northern Greece) or pickled capers with their leaves (in the Greek islands);
Lettuce leaves, iceberg, or other varieties of salad are not part of this dish, but in Europe and the United Kingdom, they are often added along with other ingredients that are not part of the traditional recipe.
The secret to a perfect Greek salad with a tasty and flavorful dressing is very simple. First, you need to buy ripe and firm tomatoes (beefsteak or ribbed); then you need to wash them, slice them thinly, and season with salt and a little oil. At this point, you should let them rest for 15 minutes at room temperature; this operation allows the tomato to lose part of its vegetation water and intensify its flavor. The vegetation water, combined with oil, vinegar, and oregano, will create a tasty and flavorful dressing making the Greek salad special.
Before moving on to the procedure, I leave you other summer recipes to try:
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: No Cooking
- Cuisine: Greek
- Seasonality: All Seasons, Summer
- Energy 110.44 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 12.24 (g) of which sugars 2.82 (g)
- Proteins 3.51 (g)
- Fat 5.35 (g) of which saturated 2.79 (g)of which unsaturated 1.54 (g)
- Fibers 1.82 (g)
- Sodium 477.84 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
The Greek salad I propose is the original version to which green peppers (in northern Greece) or pickled capers with their leaves (in the Greek islands) are sometimes added.
- 4 beefsteak tomatoes (medium well-ripened – about 550 g (19.4 oz))
- 2 cucumbers (300 g (10.6 oz))
- 1 red onion (or a white onion or other sweet variety)
- 200 g feta cheese
- 70 g pitted olives (Kalamata)
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- to taste salt
- to taste dried oregano
- 1 sprig oregano (fresh – optional)
Tools
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Salad bowl wide and shallow
Procedure
Wash the tomatoes, slice them thinly, season them with salt and a drizzle of oil, and let them rest for 15 minutes in a bowl, this way they will lose part of their vegetation water and the flavor will become more intense.
Meanwhile, wash the cucumber thoroughly and slice it thinly.
Peel the onion, rinse it under running water, dry it, and slice it finely.
Cut the feta cheese into 1 cm (0.4 inch) cubes.
Drain the tomatoes from the vegetation water and place them in the salad bowl, add the cucumbers and onion.
Add the oil, vinegar, and dried oregano to the tomato water, emulsify everything and dress the salad. Add the olives and diced feta, mix gently. Finish with a few fresh oregano leaves.
Letting the tomatoes rest with salt allows you to obtain a tasty and abundant dressing in which you can dip toasted bread or croutons; it will also make the salad much tastier.
The Greek salad is ready!
Tips
Storage
The Greek salad keeps for 1 day in the refrigerator well covered.
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