For the past several months I've had a thing about Greek salads, even craving them at odd times of the day. I think it's because I love crispy, salty food that has a bite. I just made a giant salad for supper tonight with rotisserie chicken (Costco) and pasta included to make a meal in one bowl perfect for a summer evening. It's always a hit with those in the PalmFamily who like green vegetables. That, of course, leaves out PalmBoy, but he's at summer camp so he's not subjected to it tonight.Here's how I do it:
Chopped Greek Salad
lettuce (usually a mixture of crispy iceberg, Manoa lettuce, and red leaf)
red onion
seedless cucumber
tomatoes (either fresh or sun-dried)
pitted Kalamata olives
feta cheese
red and yellow peppers
I also throw in chopped rotisserie chicken and cooked penne pasta sometimes. Honestly, the salad is a little different each time because I just use what I have on hand.
(Here's a trick for crispy iceberg lettuce that I learned from my mom: earlier in the day, wash the head of iceberg. While it's still wet, wrap it in paper towel, and then wrap that in wax paper. Store in the fridge until you need it. It'll be nice and crisp.)
Chop the lettuce, cucumber, onion, tomatoes, and peppers. I like mine chopped pretty finely. Cut the olives in half. Throw it all in a bowl and add the feta cheese. Toss well.
Greek Dressing
(Sorry, I have no measurements here. I just add what I have until it looks and tastes right. I like my dressing pretty tangy, but you may not.)
olive oil
wine vinegar, either red or white
the juice of 1 fresh lemon (this really makes a difference!)
dried oregano
dried parsley
salt (I use kosher)
freshly ground pepper
You can add minced garlic, too.
Add all this to a bottle and shake to combine. I like to pour this over the whole big salad and combine because I like every bit of the salad to have some dressing on it. It's harder to do that when you dress your own salad on your own plate. If you do this, though, the salad doesn't keep well as a leftover. I try to remember to pull out salad for PalmPilot's lunch the next day and pack it with dressing on the side.
I buy the big jars of pitted Kalamata olives at Costco. They come in a 2-pack, and we go through them pretty quickly here. I also buy the big containers of feta cheese at Costco.
Enjoy!
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