Greek salad. Does it even need a recipe? It probably doesn’t. All you need is exceptionally good summer produce. Crisp, refreshing cucumbers and rich red, juicy heirloom tomatoes that don’t shirk from their gloriously odd shapes.
This is the food of summer holidays. Those long lazy lunches that take place under the shade of grape vine terraces, with salt on your skin and sand in your sandals.
The ingredients for the perfect Greek salad are often hotly debated. For me – I say hold the lettuce and peppers. Lettuce is for spring and peppers are for stuffing. I want soothingly cold cucumbers, the icy-hot crunch of red onion, lusciously juicy tomatoes and the salty tang of Greek olives and feta.
I could eat bowls of this for three months straight over summer. So could Kosta. When the salad is almost done and all that remains is the cocktail of summer juices, there is often a bit of a race to see who can mop them up first. Occasionally, if Kosta gets to the bowl first, the juices are blessed with a little nudge of ouzo – making the salad, well, just that little bit more Greek.
Greek (Horiatiki) salad
Ingredients
- 1 red onion
- 2 medium cucumbers
- 2 ripe round tomatoes preferably homegrown or heirloom
- 1 Handful of cherry tomatoes
- 1 Handful of olives homemade are best or the small olives from Corfu
- 250 g slice of Greek DOC feta
- Good quality Greek wine vinegar to taste
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil to taste
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Dried Greek rigani to taste
- 1 tbsp ouzo to enjoy with the salad juices optional
Instructions
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Peel and slice the red onion into rings. Place in a bowl. Drizzle over Greek wine vinegar and a little chilled cold water. Set aside for 15 minutes to allow the heat from the onion soften. After 10 minutes, drain off the liquid and reserve the onion.
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Wash and peel the cucumbers. Run the tines of the fork along the edges of the cucumbers to create ridges to catch the dressing. Cut into rounds. Place the cucumbers into the bowl with the onions.
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Wash and core the two large tomatoes. Slice into wedges. Be sure to cut the tomatoes over the salad bowl, to catch all of the summery juices. Place the cut tomatoes into the bowl with the cucmbers. Wash and halve the cherry tomatoes and place in the bowl.
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Add the olives and toss the salad ingredients to combine well. At this point, it is best to put the salad in the fridge to chill well until you are ready to serve.
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When ready to serve, add salt to taste, followed by a good drizzle of Greek wine vinegar. Finally add a generous glug of extra virgin olive oil (more than you think you need!) and toss the salad to combine. Check the seasoning and add a grinding of black pepper, if preferred. Then top with the whole slice of feta and another glug of extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle generously with dried oregano.
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When the salad is nearly finished and only those glorious summer juices and olive oil remain in the bowl, do as Kosta does on holidays - add a little drop of ouzo and mop up with a good slice of rustic sourdough bread.
