Greek Salad
Yasmin Khan
Photo by MJ Kroeger. Prop Stylist: Suzie Myers. Food Stylist: Anna Billingskog.
- Serves
- 4 as a side dish, 2 as a main
- Prep Time
- 15 Minutes
If there’s one dish that conjures up images of the Greek islands for me, it is this, the classic Greek salad. In all honesty, it is best enjoyed when looking out at the Mediterranean Sea with sand between your toes, but on a hot summer’s day, its sweet and salty flavors can be refreshing and delicious wherever you are. As with all simple dishes, it helps to pay attention to a few key details to get it just right. So make sure your tomatoes are sweet, ripe, and juicy; keep the cucumber in the refrigerator until just before serving (this salad needs to be cold to be refreshing); and don’t crumble the cheese, but rather serve it in a thick slice, as they do in Greece. I like to keep the tomato and cucumber pieces quite chunky and large, as I prefer the aesthetic and this is how it’s traditionally served. If you find raw onions a bit pungent for your taste, you can marinate them in the salad dressing before assembling; this will soften them and remove some of their astringency. Serve with plenty of crusty bread to soak up the juices. Reprinted with permission from Ripe Figs: Recipes and Stories from Turkey, Greece, and Cyprus by Yasmin Khan (W. W. Norton & Company, 2021).
Ingredients
Dressing
- 2 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve
- 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salad
- 1/2 small red onion, finely sliced, or to taste
- 4 medium-size ripe tomatoes (total weight about 500 grams)
- 500 gram cucumber
- 1 handful Kalamata olives
- 1 tablespoon capers, rinsed
- 1/3 green bell pepper, cut crosswise into 3 circles
- 150 gram feta cheese
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Crusty bread, for serving
Featured Video
Greek Salad
Directions
Instructions
- Step 1
Start by making the dressing, whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl. (If you want to marinate the onion first, add it to the dressing now, letting it soften there for 20 minutes.)
- Step 2
Cut the tomatoes into large, thick, wedges, about ¾ inch (2 centimeters) wide. Peel the cucumber and cut it into thick, diagonal slices about ¾ inch (2 centimeters) wide also, then cut these slices in half, so they are roughly the same size as the tomatoes.
- Step 3
Place the tomatoes, cucumber, and onion in a large bowl. Add the dressing and toss together well.
- Step 4
Scatter the olives and capers over the salad, layer on the slices of green bell pepper, and place a large piece of feta on top. Drizzle the entire salad with a bit more extra-virgin olive oil and finish with the dried oregano. Serve with crusty bread.