Who Knew Greek Salad Was So Easy?!
SKU:
A fantastic minimalist salad that really shows off summer tomatoes, cukes, and red peppers while having enough "oomph" from feta cheese and lemon juice to use all year round.
Add pasta and olives to make this a full meal salad!
Pasta version adapted from Rachael Ray.
Add pasta and olives to make this a full meal salad!
Pasta version adapted from Rachael Ray.
Ingredients
|
¼ of a red onion, finely chopped
1 carton of grape tomatoes, halved *or* 3-4 beefsteaks, sliced into small chunks *or* 5-6 Romas, sliced into chunks |
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded and sliced into chunks
1-2 red peppers, cored, sliced into chunks 1 small tub of feta cheese <--DELETE for vegan option Fresh parsley, chopped (optional—don’t use dried in this case) Juice of 1 lemon |
What To Do
Except for the onion, chop everything so that that they all about the size of half of a grape tomato. Mix red onion, cucumber, tomatoes and red peppers together in a salad bowl. Squeeze lemon juice over salad and toss. Add parsley and feta cheese to your liking and toss again.
Variation on a Theme: Greek Pasta Salad
1 box of penne
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cucumber, cored, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion, as thinly sliced as you can 1 small container of feta cheese
About 12 pitted Kalamata olives
3-4T red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice
A bit of olive oil
Chop all vegetables and dump them into a very large serving bowl. Pieces should be about the same size as the cooked penne, so this task is pretty quick. Cook pasta according to the directions until just al dente. Drain and cool down a bit. While you do this, cut the olives into small pieces.
Toss the pasta in with the vegetables. Add olives, and red wine vinegar. Add just enough olive oil to mix, but you definitely don't want it to go 'slimy.' Add the container of feta cheese at the end. Serve slightly warm or cooled if you can wait that long.
1-2 tomatoes, chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and chopped
1 cucumber, cored, seeded and chopped
1/2 red onion, as thinly sliced as you can 1 small container of feta cheese
About 12 pitted Kalamata olives
3-4T red wine vinegar instead of lemon juice
A bit of olive oil
Chop all vegetables and dump them into a very large serving bowl. Pieces should be about the same size as the cooked penne, so this task is pretty quick. Cook pasta according to the directions until just al dente. Drain and cool down a bit. While you do this, cut the olives into small pieces.
Toss the pasta in with the vegetables. Add olives, and red wine vinegar. Add just enough olive oil to mix, but you definitely don't want it to go 'slimy.' Add the container of feta cheese at the end. Serve slightly warm or cooled if you can wait that long.
Notes and Talking Story
- My friend/boss Steve made the veggie-only version for a working group lunch back in the day. Like a typical boss, *I* did all the chopping, but *he* got all the adulation.
- The pasta version is well-suited for a weekday meal. Minimal cooking and takes less than an hour.
- The original Rachael Ray version uses tuna, but my birdie had the brilliant idea of omitting tuna because, "leftover tuna in a salad is gross." Therefore, in our household, it is a meatless dish.
- Both are AWESOME as leftovers, and work well with winter tomatoes, cukes and red peppers. The vinegar, feta and olives brighten up the veggies nicely.
