Greek Salad

Name: Greek Salad
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 35 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: 4 ripe tomatoes, thickly sliced; 1 large cucumber, sliced; 1 green pepper; 1 red onion, thinly ringed; 200 g block feta; 100 g Kalamata olives; 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil; 1 tsp dried Greek oregano; coarse salt

Horiatiki — literally 'village salad' — is the soul of the Greek summer table: tomatoes warmed by the sun, cucumber straight from the garden, a slab of feta, Kalamata olives and a generous pour of olive oil scented with wild oregano. Older than the lettuce-based salads that arrived with tourism, the dish dates to peasant kitchens where bread, oil and whatever the garden offered were all you needed.

Total time35m

Active time25m

Servings6

DifficultyEasy

Cost$

Add to my meal plan

🌿

Rich in vitamins

Fresh and healthy

⭐

Traditional recipe

Authentic taste

Ingredients 6 servings

4 ripe tomatoes, thickly sliced
1 large cucumber, sliced
1 green pepper
1 red onion, thinly ringed
200 g block feta
100 g Kalamata olives
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp dried Greek oregano
Coarse salt

How to make it

1Slice ripe tomatoes thick — at least a finger across — into wedges or rounds, so they hold their juice rather than collapse into purée.
2Cut the cucumber into half-moons, the green pepper into thin rings, and the red onion paper-thin; if sharp, soak the rings in iced water for ten minutes to soften the bite while keeping the crunch.
3Combine in a wide, shallow bowl with a pinch of coarse salt and resist tossing — Greeks build this salad in layers, never mixed.
4Scatter the Kalamata olives whole, with their stones.
5Lay the feta on top as a single uncut slab, exactly as you'd be served in a Cretan taverna.
6Drizzle generously with extra-virgin olive oil, then shower with dried oregano rubbed between your palms to release the aroma.
7Serve immediately with crusty bread for mopping the juices.