Greek Salad (Horiatiki Salata)
One thing I vividly remember about my first trip to Greece 12 years ago: horiatiki salata (village salad in Greek). A celebration of a few simple ingredients, this is the authentic Greek salad. No lettuce, no mixing, no cubed or crumbled feta here. Just ripe tomatoes, crisp cucumbers, juicy Greek black olives and capers, and a slab of mild feta on top. We happily ate our fair share of horiatiki during our recent week in Greece, and last night I was craving those fresh flavors so I whipped up the salad with heirloom tomatoes from our garden. Perfection!
Greek Salad (Horiatiki Salata)
2-3 heirloom tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 cucumber, peeled, sliced into ½” rounds, rounds halved
¼ red onion, thinly sliced
½ green bell pepper, thinly sliced
8-10 Kalamata olives
1-2 tablespoons medium-sized capers, drained and rinsed
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Red wine vinegar
Extra-virgin olive oil
Fresh feta, cut into thick slabs
Dried oregano
Add tomatoes to a bowl and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. Add cucumbers and onions to the tomatoes. Drizzle with olive oil, add a splash or two of vinegar, and season with freshly ground pepper. Divide the tomato-cucumber-onion mixture into two shallow bowls. Top each bowl with the green pepper, olives and capers. Place a piece of feta on top and sprinkle each salad with oregano.