Big Fat Greek Salad

 

Oh, I love salad and one of my favourite salads, all the year through, has to be the humble Greek Salad, and what's NOT to love about a tasty Greek Salad?

With plenty of fresh garden vegetables . . .  ripe tomatoes, cucumbers . . .  red peppers  . . .

 

Fresh herbs . . .  oregano, mint  . . .  and kalamata olives . . .  dark, briney and meaty  . . .

 

 

Feta cheese  . . .  moreishly salty, creamy   . . . the sharpness of red onions  . . .  and yes, I forgot to put them in before you say anything.  

I knew something was missing when I was taking the photos, but couldn't put my finger on it . . .

 

It was not until I went in the kitchen to clean up, I noticed them sitting there.  Bad me.  

Don't let that stop you from making this fabulous salad however  . . .  it's gorgeous.

 

 A part of that fabulousity comes from the use of roasted red peppers.  

Roasting them brings out their natural sweetness and gets rid of that bitter skin . . .  I have a trick which helps you to do it quickly and easily.

 

Don't be tempted to use those fancy long, pointed peppers in this . . .  they don't stand up properly to the roasting and are just not thick enough.  

You want a plain old thick skinned regular red bell pepper.

 

I like to use English Cucumbers, because they are seedless . . .  and you can use the whole thing.  

 

Greek feta . . . I love it.  Tangy.  Creamy.  Salty.  Same with the olives, Greek kalamata.  Beautiful.

 

This is a really winning Greek Salad, with a punchy dressing composed of a good fruity extra virgin Greek olive oil, fresh lemon juice, seasoning and oregano.  

Marinating the roasted peppers in the dressing for a while first, adds an additional layer of flavour.  Altogether, this is quite simply . . . very . . .  very good!

 

*My Big Fat Greek Salad*

Serves 4

Printable Recipe 

 

Make sure all your salad ingredients are at room temperature prior to beginning. This is a deliciously herby salad that we love in this house. This makes individual salads and can be successfully halved. 

2 fresh red peppers

2 large ripe tomatoes

6 TBS extra virgin olive oil

2 TBS fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp dried oregano

salt and black pepper to taste

1/2 English cucumber

4 medium vine-ripened cucumbers

1 small red onion

12 to 15 kalamata olives

200g Greek Feta Cheese (8 ounces)

fresh rocket, oregano and mint to serve

freshly ground black pepper

 Preheat the grill.  Cut the peppers into quarters and discard the stem end, ribs and seeds.  Cut into quarters and place them onto a foil lined baking sheet, skin side up.  Grill under the hot grill until the skin is completely blackened.  Remove from the oven and draw the foil up around the peppers to cover and seal shut.  Let stand for about 10 to 15 minutes, then open and remove the blackened skins, discarding them. Cut the peppers into bite sized pieces and place into a bowl. 

Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, dried oregano and seasoning to taste.  Pour this over the grilled peppers in the boil and eave to marinate for at the minimum 15 minutes.  The longer you leave them the better they taste. 

Wash and chop the cucumber into chunks.  Have the tomatoes and cut out the cores.  Cut them into chunks also.  Peel and halve the red onion horizontally and then cut into thin slices. 

Make up each salad individually by placing some of the rocket in the bottom each of four salad bowls.  Scatter the cucumber, tomato and red onion over top along with the marinated peppers, reserving the marinade from the peppers.  

Divide the olives and scatter them over top also.  Crumble a bit of the cheese over top of each salad.  Strip the leaves from some oregano and sprinkle over top. Tear some mint leaves and also scatter this over top.  Drizzle each with a portion of the marinade left from the peppers.  Season to taste with a grinding of black pepper and serve immediately.

Bring on the weekend!  I hope you have something fun and tasty planned!  Bon Appetit!