Americanized Greek Salad
This salad is the evil bastard stepchild of a true Greek salad. A true Greek salad is simply tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion dressed in extra virgin and oregano.
The inspiration for this salad comes from a local restaurant ran by this awesome Greek family who on Saturday after leaving the Farmer’s Market we decided to stop by and eat at. If you are ever in the Fort Wayne area the restaurant is called Cosmos and always packed (which I might add being in a town that is saturated with Crapabees and TG McFunsters it is awesome to see local restaurants still fighting). Everything on their menu is amazing from the egg skillets to the pancakes and all the way to the fried fish.
Tuesday night is when this salad came into play because the previous two days I was stuck in leadership training not because my company has aspirations of me ever becoming a leader (trust me if they could move me anymore underground they would) but rather it was a pre-requisite for a certification. So coming home I started thinking what is quick and easy because I am tired and don’t feel like really cooking (ok really that is a complete and utter lie I am actually addicted to Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution for the PS3 and wanted to shut off my brain and play while listening to obnoxious punk music).
I also might add this was another chance to use my great new toy the salad spinner. I feel like an evil carnival operator whenever I get to pump the handle repeatedly and then for no reason hit the brake all while laughing. I am also thinking of starting a side project similar to Blendtec’s Will It Blend and calling it Jeff’s Will It Spin.
Anyways, caffeine is kicking in so on to the recipe:
For the dressing you will need:
- 1/4 cup of extra virgin
- 2 TB of red wine vinegar
- 1 TB of fresh oregano (1 teaspoon dried)
The easiest way on the face of the earth to mix up dressing is take a mason jar, dump everything in that, tighten the lid, and shake till combined.
For the salad portion of our meal you will need:
- Couple cups of lettuce shredded
- 1/2 cucumber diced
- 1 pepper diced (I went with an anaheim)
- Diced tomato (I went with 1/2 a yellow pear and 1/2 a brandywine)
- Handful of olives
- Pepperchinis
- Red onion sliced thinly (mandoline works perfect)
Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl and lightly (you don’t want to hear the lettuce gurgling because it is drowning) dress the salad. Gently use your fingertips to combine everything. Top with feta and sprinkle some more oregano on top.
I’m a fan of pretty much all things Mediterranean, this sounds like a nice light lunch option! Love the pepperchinis
Hey, what a cool idea, American-Greek. I’m all about it.
This is my very favorite salad!
looks pretty fantastic, jeff. and i’ll have you know that i happen to like applebee’s, thank you very much, but i agree that the chains can’t hold a candle to family-run restaurants. good stuff.
Looks good Jeff, but just don’t do salads. I know, it sounds weird
I could, however, really get into that parmesan crusted chicken of yours. Yum!
This recipe looks pretty authentic to me. The Greeks have a version where they use lettuce…but in true Greek style it is called something else.
this may not be a genuine greek salad, but it is genuinely mediterranean, and culinarily creative