Greek salad

This traditional Greek salad is a wonderful change from your everyday lettuce salads. It is filled with all sorts of crispy, crunchy vegetables, smooth and tangy feta cheese, and tart kalamata olives all drenched in a flavorful olive oil dressing. The salad is very easy to assemble and is tolerant of all sorts of substitutions. Play around with different kinds of vegetables and cheeses. Use different flavorings such as basil or cumin in the salad dressing or try fresh herbs instead of dried. Also try substituting red wine vinegar for the lemon juice.

Serves 4-6 people.

Gather:

• 4 large tomatoes, cored and cut into quarters, eighths, or large chunks.
• 1 large cucumber, peeled and cut into thick slices or chunks.
• 2 green peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into chunks.
• 15-20 kalamata olives
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut into thick slices
• 1/3 lb. feta cheese, sliced into chunks or crumbled

For the dressing:

• 6-7 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• salt and black pepper to taste

Cut up all the vegetables into cubes or slices, whatever you prefer. Dump everything into a large bowl and add the feta cheese.

Mix all the dressing ingredients together until they make an emulsion. You can do this by putting everything in a bottle with a lid and shaking with fierceness! or by placing everything in a bowl and mixing vigorously with a whisk. Pour the dressing over the salad and serve.

This salad keeps rather well in the fridge. The longer time also intensifies the flavors in the dressing.

Footprints advises doing away with the garlic and using a lot more lemon juice