Big Fat Greek Salad

Friday 4 August 2017

Big Fat Greek Salad
 




Oh, I love salad and one of my favourite salads, all the year through, has to be the humble Greek Salad, and what's NOT to love about a tasty Greek Salad?



Big Fat Greek Salad




With plenty of fresh garden vegetables . . .  ripe tomatoes, cucumbers . . .  red peppers  . . .


  Big Fat Greek Salad




Fresh herbs . . .  oregano, mint  . . .  and kalamata olives . . .  dark, briney and meaty  . . .

 

Big Fat Greek Salad
 





Feta cheese  . . .  moreishly salty, creamy   . . . the sharpness of red onions  . . .  and yes, I forgot to put them in before you say anything.  


I knew something was missing when I was taking the photos, but couldn't put my finger on it . . .




Big Fat Greek Salad
 




It was not until I went in the kitchen to clean up, I noticed them sitting there.  Bad me.  



Don't let that stop you from making this fabulous salad however  . . .  it's gorgeous.






 A part of that fabulousity comes from the use of roasted red peppers.  


Roasting them brings out their natural sweetness and gets rid of that bitter skin . . .  I have a trick which helps you to do it quickly and easily.



Big Fat Greek Salad
 




Don't be tempted to use those fancy long, pointed peppers in this . . .  they don't stand up properly to the roasting and are just not thick enough.  


You want a plain old thick skinned regular red bell pepper.



Big Fat Greek Salad
 



I like to use English Cucumbers, because they are seedless . . .  and you can use the whole thing.  


Big Fat Greek Salad
 




Greek feta . . . I love it.  Tangy.  Creamy.  Salty.  Same with the olives, Greek kalamata.  Beautiful.



Big Fat Greek Salad
 




This is a really winning Greek Salad, with a punchy dressing composed of a good fruity extra virgin Greek olive oil, fresh lemon juice, seasoning and oregano.  



Marinating the roasted peppers in the dressing for a while first, adds an additional layer of flavour.  Altogether, this is quite simply . . . very . . .  very good!



Big Fat Greek Salad



*My Big Fat Greek Salad*
Serves 4
 
Make sure all your salad ingredients are at room temperature prior to beginning. This is a deliciously herby salad that we love in this house. This makes individual salads and can be successfully halved. 

2 fresh red peppers
2 large ripe tomatoes
6 TBS extra virgin olive oil
2 TBS fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 English cucumber
4 medium vine-ripened cucumbers
1 small red onion
12 to 15 kalamata olives
200g Greek Feta Cheese (8 ounces)
fresh rocket, oregano and mint to serve
freshly ground black pepper


Big Fat Greek Salad





 Preheat the grill.  Cut the peppers into quarters and discard the stem end, ribs and seeds.  Cut into quarters and place them onto a foil lined baking sheet, skin side up.  Grill under the hot grill until the skin is completely blackened.  Remove from the oven and draw the foil up around the peppers to cover and seal shut.  Let stand for about 10 to 15 minutes, then open and remove the blackened skins, discarding them. Cut the peppers into bite sized pieces and place into a bowl. 


Whisk together the olive oil, lemon juice, dried oregano and seasoning to taste.  Pour this over the grilled peppers in the boil and eave to marinate for at the minimum 15 minutes.  The longer you leave them the better they taste. 

Wash and chop the cucumber into chunks.  Have the tomatoes and cut out the cores.  Cut them into chunks also.  Peel and halve the red onion horizontally and then cut into thin slices. 


Make up each salad individually by placing some of the rocket in the bottom each of four salad bowls.  Scatter the cucumber, tomato and red onion over top along with the marinated peppers, reserving the marinade from the peppers.  


Divide the olives and scatter them over top also.  Crumble a bit of the cheese over top of each salad.  Strip the leaves from some oregano and sprinkle over top. Tear some mint leaves and also scatter this over top.  Drizzle each with a portion of the marinade left from the peppers.  Season to taste with a grinding of black pepper and serve immediately.


Big Fat Greek Salad




Bring on the weekend!  I hope you have something fun and tasty planned!  Bon Appetit!


5 comments

  1. Love the idea of roasted pepppers..I find we can't eat all the food we buy..like lettuce etc..it goes bad so fast:( Well not so fast..but much more than we can eat..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know what you mean Monique! We have the same problem. Everything in the shops is so short dated. I have thought about buying fresh daily as I need it, but it costs more and we still don't use it all. Roasted peppers freeze well. Xo

      Delete
  2. We had this today to accompany some fresh grilled fish. I've made variations of Greek salad before, but have never used grilled peppers in it and they were really so good that I wondered why I'd never thought of it myself! I didn't see tomatoes listed in the ingredients, but guessed that they were the second lot of cucumbers, so I went with that.

    I loved this - fresh, crisp, salty, peppery ... all in one. It was an ideal foil for the grilled fish. Some crusty bread and the meal was complete. Lovely salad.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for stopping by. I love to hear from you so do not be shy!


BEFORE LEAVING A COMMENT OR RATING, ASK YOURSELF:
Did you make the recipe as directed? Recipe results are not guaranteed when changes have been made.

Is this comment helpful to other readers? Rude or hateful comments will not be approved. Remember that this website is run by a real person.

Are you here to complain about ads? Please keep in mind that I develop these recipes and provide them to you for free. Advertising helps to defray my cost of doing so, and allows me to continue to post regular fresh content.

Thanks so much for your understanding! I appreciate you!