Greek Village Salad (Χωριάτικη Σαλάτα)
Known across the world as the 'Greek Salad', this original recipe takes the iconic salad back home to its humble roots.
Known as ‘horiatiki salata’ or ‘village-style salad’, the world-famous Greek salad has strayed far from its humble origins. Originally using mid-summer produce, you’ll traditionally find a mixture of tomato, cucumber, green bell pepper and red onion along with a hearty punch of kalamata olives. This is your opportunity to use the best vegetables you can get, particularly tomatoes, as the salad’s simple dressing frames them beautifully. Even if you hate them, don’t leave out the green bell pepper. It’s vegetal, slightly bitter taste counters the sweet vegetables and the acidic dressing really well. And finally, use the best feta cheese you can get, particularly ‘barrel-aged’ which has a milder, smoother taste than the regular stuff. Just don’t crumble it into your salad; that drives the Greeks crazy! Instead, enjoy it as a single wedge on top of your salad, almost treating it as a centrepiece. If you’d prefer to make this salad ahead, you can combine the chopped vegetables and store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours before adding your dressing. Just make sure your vegetables are absolutely room temperature before serving. Let’s go!
INGREDIENTS (serves 2)
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
pinch of sugar, or to taste
1 tsp dried oregano
5-6 ripe, medium-size vine-on tomatoes
1/2 cucumber or 4-5 baby cucumbers
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
1/2 red onion, sliced
handful of kalamata olives (ideally marinated olives)
small handful of fresh dill or parsley
75g good quality feta cheese (barrel-aged if possible)
5-6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (Greek if possible)
WALKTHROUGH
First, we will make the dressing. This can be made in advance. In a small bowl, combine the 2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp salt and pinch of sugar. Mix well until the salt and sugar have dissolved.
Now we’ll prepare the salad. The vegetables can be prepared up to 24 hours in advance. Remove the ‘eye’ from the top of the 5-6 tomatoes and slice them into halves or quarters, depending on the size of your tomatoes. The pieces should be big but still bitesize. Add them to the bowl.
Slice the cucumber into large but bitesize chunks. You may peel the cucumber and remove the seeds if desired, particularly if using a large cucumber, but this is a matter of taste. Add these to the bowl.
Slice the 1/2 green bell pepper into large but bitesize pieces, removing any seeds or white, rib-like membrane. Add these to the bowl.
Slice the 1/2 red onion thinly, slicing from pole-to-pole to the onions hold their shape. Add these to the salad along with a handful of kalamata olives, 1/4 tsp black pepper and 1 tsp dried oregano. There is no need to toss the salad here. If making this in advance, you can store the vegetables like this for up to 24 hours in the fridge, covered well.
Before serving, add the vinegar mixture to the vegetables and briefly toss them until coated. Add the 5-6 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and briefly toss until the vegetables are glossed.
Serve the salad in your serving bowls accompanies with a piece of feta cheese. Resist the urge to crumble it! Add a drizzle of olive oil on top of the cheese followed by the torn dill or parsley. Enjoy it immediately!
