For Greek salad, forget greens

Published: Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Here's how to avoid getting stuck eating mostly lettuce when you share a Greek salad: Eliminate the leafy stuff.

You know how it happens; a big enticing plate is put on the table, but looks are deceiving. It's really just a small assortment of vegetables floating in a sea of chopped iceberg lettuce. I say empty the ocean.

That's right, revamp a summer dinner staple without the filler. Just a plate heaping with crunchy cucumbers, juicy tomatoes and pleasantly salty feta and olives. It's more authentic, too.

Greek salad, like Israeli salad, does not traditionally include lettuce, just refreshing chopped vegetables.

For the vegetables, you want nice, bite-size chunks. This makes the salad easier to eat, and easier on the eyes. While you're at it, improve the overall flavor and texture by removing the cucumber seeds, which can be bitter.

To seed a cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise. Then use a small spoon to scoop out the seeds, leaving a rounded trench. The remaining cucumber then can be chopped as desired.

The easiest way to cut the onion (while producing the fewest tears) is to trim the ends, peel it, halve it, then cut it into even strips lengthwise (end-to-end).

When selecting feta cheese and olives, consider the salt content. A bit of crunchy fleur de sel sprinkled over the salad at the end is nice, so a creamier, less salty cheese is the best choice. French feta tends to be a better fit for this than Greek. And know that if your feta isn't made from a combination of sheep's and goat's milk, it's not truly feta.

It's also tastier to add the feta as small chunks, rather than crumbling the cheese into the salad (which can dump large boulders of cheese onto your salad). A knife works best.

Greek Salad

Start to finish: 20 minutes

Servings: 4 starters

Juice of half a lemon

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons dried oregano

Coarse salt and ground black pepper, to taste



Half medium red onion, peeled, trimmed, thinly sliced lengthwise

1/3 cup pitted Kalamata olives

1 tablespoon coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

5-ounce chunk feta cheese, finely chopped

Fleur de sel or other coarse sea salt




Nutrition information per serving: 350 calories; 263 calories from fat; 29 g fat (8 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 32 mg cholesterol; 15 g carbohydrate; 8 g protein; 3 g fiber; 1,055 mg sodium.

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