What is added to Greek salad. Greek Salad - Recipes, History and Traditions of Mediterranean Cooking

29.06.2020 Egg dishes

In Greece, this salad is prepared from fresh vegetables, coarsely chopped, with the addition of feta cheese and olive oil. This is an unusually tasty, aromatic and light salad. The key to success is fresh vegetables and large olives with pits, oregano and real olive oil.

Greek salad is loved all over the world, it is usually served in a classic form, and is rarely improvised with the ingredients. The changes only affect the components of the dressing, for example, some add cloves of garlic to the dressing. Cooking salad may differ in the way you cut vegetables, one thing remains unnamed - the cutting should be large. Depending on the place of preparation, chicken breast, mushrooms, shrimp or other seafood can be added to the salad.

By the way, in Greece itself, this salad is called rustic.

Greek salad classic

Ingredients:

  • Fresh ripe tomatoes - 3 pcs.,
  • Cucumbers (small) - 3 pcs.,
  • Salad onion (red) - 1 pc.,
  • Olives (large with pits) - 1 jar (or 300 g),
  • Feta cheese - 180 g,
  • Oregano (dry) - 0.5 tsp,
  • Olive oil - 50-70 ml,
  • Ground black pepper,
  • Salt.

Preparation:

Cut the prepared tomatoes and cucumbers into large pieces. Put in a salad bowl. Peel the onion and cut into thin rings. Add to cucumbers and tomatoes. Place olives and diced feta cheese on the onion. Sprinkle with dry oregano, salt and pepper. Pour olive oil over the salad. Can be served without stirring.

Greek salad is a real treasure for lovers of healthy and, moreover, varied food. A cocktail made from fresh vegetables, delicate cheese and olive seed oil ... looks very bright and appetizing on the table, saturates with vitamins and fresh, pronounced taste. All these indisputable advantages are complemented by another and very weighty one - a minimum of calories! But how to make this salad delicious, can you remove olives or add chicken? ..

All this can be done, the salad is so versatile that it easily endures harmless modifications and endows even the most inexperienced cook with wonderful results. There are many ways to prepare this salad on the Internet, but the most interesting are still the different serving options. For example, sometimes vegetables are cut coarsely, and a piece of cheese, instead of being cut into cubes, is placed in a single large rectangle on top. The dish takes on a much more spectacular, restaurant-like look, and all this is so simple and quick. The salad only requires cutting all the ingredients and ... that's all! Can you imagine?

Classic step-by-step recipe for Greek salad with photos

The classic salad recipe includes only cheese, fresh vegetables and the right dressing. Many people prefer to pour it with ordinary olive oil, but this method is more simple. If you want to present this simple and surprisingly popular dish as effectively as possible, you will need to play a little with the flavors of the dressing.


Ingredients:


large tomatoes - 2 pieces;




lemon juice;

salt, black pepper;

How to cook?

Step 1. Thoroughly wash all vegetables, cut off excess parts, remove seeds from peppers.
It is worth noting that ripe red tomatoes should be used for salad. The taste depends very much on this, and since vegetables are the main ingredient, they must be of the highest quality. Therefore, the salad should still be left in the summer collection, because in winter it will not warm you, and the taste of the brought vegetables will probably not be too promising.


Step 2. Immediately take a beautiful deep salad vase. We strongly recommend that you opt for transparent dishes, since it is she who can most beautifully and vividly convey the appearance and taste of the salad and decorate the festive table.

Step 3. Now it's time to cut the ingredients. Vegetables cut into large cubes are usually used in a salad. Of course, depending on your taste preference, you can cut all the ingredients into strips, thin slices, or small cubes. But we still recommend sticking to the standard - the cubes should be the same size as the whole olive.
So, chop up cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and cheese.
But lettuce leaves are best torn into small pieces with your hands.

Step 4. There is no need to cut the olives, so just open the can and drain the liquid - we definitely won't need it anymore. You do not need to lay out the salad in layers, since all the beauty is just in the colorful surface. Therefore, calmly put all the ingredients in the vase in any order, only the cheese will need to be added at the end, because it is very soft in texture and can spread all over the vegetables when stirring.

Step 5. It's time for miracles, let's prepare the most delicious - dressing. Take a small saucepan or bowl and first mix the dry ingredients in it - salt, black pepper, herbs. Then fill them with a tablespoon of lemon juice. It will be much easier to squeeze lemon juice if you heat it in the microwave for 20-30 seconds, depending on the power of your microwave.
You will have a paste, stir it well to make sure no lumps form.

Now start pouring olive oil into it. Add gradually, stirring constantly, so that the mixture does not separate. In total, for a given amount of vegetables, you need about 3 to 5 tablespoons of oil, depending on how much you like its oily taste.
Be sure to use the highest quality oil, because the taste of the salad depends on it. It should be unrefined and cold pressed.


Step 6. Pour the resulting dressing into a vase and mix the salad thoroughly. Then, put the cheese cubes on top and stir again, but very gently and quite a bit. The salad is ready, serve quickly to the table and enjoy the healthy and tasty decoration of the table.

Bon Appetit!

The classic recipe for Greek salad with croutons

As good as the original recipe is, you always want to improve it at least a little, right? For example, many housewives find Greek salad not crispy enough, lacking in good carbohydrates. Therefore, we decided to give you a salad recipe, in which homemade garlic croutons are added to the usual composition, which add satiety and spice to the dish, thanks to which it does not lose its appearance at all, but gains additional advantages.


Ingredients:

Red Bulgarian pepper - 1 large;
large tomatoes - 2 pieces;
fresh cucumber - 2 large or 4 small;
green lettuce leaves - 1 bunch or 1/2 head of Chinese cabbage;
olives and olives (or one thing) are better with pits removed - 1 medium jar;
unrefined olive oil;
lemon juice;
"Feta" cream cheese - one small package;
salt, black pepper;
fragrant herbs (to your taste).
2 cloves of garlic;
3 thick slices of fresh loaves or rolls;

How to cook:

Step 1. First of all, let's prepare the croutons, because they need time while they are drying in the oven, we just have time to prepare all the other ingredients.
So, peel the garlic cloves, crush them with the side of a large, wide knife, and then chop them into small pieces.

Melt the butter, mix it with the garlic and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the mixture. Then, in large cubes (the size of an olive tree), cut into slices of bread and grease them liberally with the butter mixture. Distribute the bread evenly on a baking tray and place in an oven preheated to 70 degrees. It will take about 20-30 minutes to bake the croutons, but we recommend that you check them and stir them slightly every 5-10 minutes - in no case should they burn.

Step 2. Wash all vegetables thoroughly and remove any bruises, dirt and places where they were picked. All seeds must be removed from the peppers. Do not forget about the high quality of the ingredients, it is very important.

Step 3. Prepare the dishes. Cut all vegetables into large cubes, tear the Chinese cabbage leaves.
In this recipe, we use Chinese cabbage to give the salad a similarity to Caesar salad, because we use similar croutons. Of course, you can also use green salad, be guided by your own taste preferences.

Cut the cheese into cubes. Open the jars of olives and drain the liquid. Step 4. Prepare the dressing. In a sauce bowl, combine pepper, herbs and salt, and grind into a paste along with a tablespoon of lemon juice. While stirring constantly, add three to five tablespoons of olive oil.

Step 5. Put vegetables and olives in a salad bowl, fill with dressing and mix thoroughly. Add the cheese and stir it lightly into the vase again. Decorate the top with crackers. Do this as carefully as possible so that they don't get wet and the salad is fresh and tasty.

Serve and don't forget to wish everyone bon appetit!

Greek classic chicken salad

No matter how much we love Greek salad, something is constantly lacking in it ... It seems there is cheese, vegetables, and butter ... But where is the meat? If you've ever wondered this question, then this recipe is definitely written for you.


Despite the traditional recipe, stored for years, tender chicken fillet fits perfectly into the "picture" of the dish and complements it, making it more satisfying and delighting meat-eaters with its aroma. Since this salad is considered a restaurant salad, we will cook the chicken in the best traditions - we will juicy fry the fillet until it is crispy, golden brown, cut it and only then let it go into our chic salad. Let's get started?

Ingredients:

Chicken fillet - 150 - 200 grams;
a clove of garlic for the marinade;
red bell pepper - 1 large;
large tomatoes - 2 pieces;
fresh cucumber - 2 large or 4 small;
green lettuce leaves - 1 bunch or 1/2 head of Chinese cabbage;
olives and olives (or one thing) are better with pits removed - 1 medium jar;
unrefined olive oil;
lemon juice;
"Feta" cream cheese - one small package;
salt, black pepper;
fragrant herbs (to your taste).

How to cook?

Step 1. So let's get started. To make the chicken as rich and tender as possible, we marinate it. To do this, you must first peel the garlic and wash the chicken fillet. You do not need to cut the fillets, we will do this with the ready-made meat. But the garlic needs to be crushed with the flat side of a large knife and finely chopped. In a small bowl, mix half a teaspoon of salt, garlic, and a little black pepper. Seasoning for chicken can be added. Pour a tablespoon of lemon juice over the mixture and brush over the fillets with this paste. Leave to marinate at room temperature for half an hour to an hour.

Step 2. Now rinse and clean vegetables from contamination. Remove the seeds from the peppers and cut the roots of the tomatoes and cucumbers. Cut the vegetables into strips; in this recipe, this will be the best solution. Tear the cabbage with your hands as well. We use Peking cabbage because of its excellent compatibility with chicken meat. It can be replaced with a regular salad.
Drain the liquid from the jars of olives, cut each olive into 3-4 rings.
But we also cut Feta cheese into large cubes.

Step 3. Prepare the dressing by mixing lemon juice with salt and herbs, stirring in olive oil.

Step 4. You need to fry the chicken. To do this, heat a heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat and brush the surface with oil. When the pan is hot, line the chicken fillet and sauté on each side for at least 5 minutes, each side covered with a golden, crispy crust. To check the doneness, you can pierce the fillet with a fork. If cloudy or pinkish juice comes out, you need to fry further. If there is no juice or it is transparent, everything is fine, you can shoot the chicken.
Let it cool for 10-15 minutes.

Step 5. All the same, cut the cooled chicken at least a little into strips. Put all vegetables, olive and meat in a bowl, fill with dressing and mix everything thoroughly. Top with cheese and stir again lightly, but don't overdo it.

Serve as soon as possible. Bon Appetit!

Greek salad without olives

It would seem, what can be a Greek salad WITHOUT olives? After all, this is its basis, one might say a business card! It turns out that there is nothing wrong with that, you just need to change the dressing recipe a little and add another, richer type of cheese. But this is not at all bad or scary, so do not rush to fix the holiday menu or rewrite all the plans.


Ingredients:

Green salad - 1 pack;
red bell pepper - 1 piece, large;
fresh, ripe tomatoes - 2 large;
large pickles, spicy salting - 2 pieces;
feta cheese;
vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons;
salt, herbs, pepper;

How to cook?

Step 1. As you can see, to replace pickled olives, we replace them with pickled cucumber. This is a great solution to restore the acidity and flavor balance of the salad. You can also replace tomatoes in the same way if pickles are not at hand.
So, wash and clean the vegetables from seeds and "roots", cut into large cubes.
It is also better to lightly rinse pickles under running cold water to rinse off excess salt from the surface and chop like other vegetables.

Step 2. Cut the cheese into small cubes. If you do not like feta cheese, you can return your favorite "Feta" to its rightful place. The fact is that feta cheese has a brighter and saltier taste, which plays into our hands when removing olives and olive oil. In general, in almost any cooking option, you can use feta cheese or, for example, sulguni cheese. Only then you need to change the cutting method and cut it into small cubes so that the salad does not frighten off guests with its excessive salinity.

Step 3. Prepare a vase and put all the vegetables in it, tear the salad. Prepare your dressing. To do this, mix salt, herbs and pepper with vegetable oil, pour the dressing over the prepared salad. In this version of preparing a salad, cheese can be added to the dishes along with vegetables and boldly mix everything, since in order to spread the cheese, you will have to try hard, right? Thoroughly mix the salad with the dressing and ... That's it! Your salad is ready, serve.

Bon Appetit!

Greek salad dressings

Do you think there is only one way to prepare a dressing? But no! No matter how authentic a salad seasoned with olive oil is, it turns out much more interesting if you use complex recipes for dressing, consisting of various spices, juices, oils and other things. Just as simple and insignificant as it seems to many, a thing like dressing can radically change the whole dish and we want to tell you how, suggest different options and ideas, be sure to try it!



Let's first identify a number of ingredients that are great for this particular salad. It's not a secret for anyone that there is a certain principle of combining products and not every ingredient for such a salad will be a good choice.

1. Olive oil.
You can't run away from him, of course. This is the main ingredient in the dressing and always works great.

2. Lemon juice.
And this is not a surprise to you. Combining mild acidity and pleasant, delicate taste - lemon juice fits perfectly into a vegetable cocktail.

3. Mustard.
Almost any restaurant salad tastes better if you add mustard to it. Of course, you should not get carried away, but in small quantities it will turn out to be the very cherry on top of the cake.

4. Honey.
For many, the amazing properties of honey and its ability to reveal the subtlest notes of taste of products seem to be a legend, but in fact it is. For almost any restaurant sauce, a few drops of honey is the best solution, always used by experienced chefs.

5. Balsamic vinegar.
Balsamic vinegar is a product that is not readily available in Russia, but if you have it in your kitchen, any salad will become a masterpiece in a matter of minutes. What should be done? Just add a few drops to the surface of the salad and stir! Its unusual taste will not disappoint anyone.

6. Garlic.
You don't even need to talk about the taste qualities of garlic, everyone knows them. Rub one small clove into the sauce and you will get the best possible praise from your guests. But do not overdo it, this is the biggest mistake many housewives make. Excessive pungency will simply overshadow the taste of all other ingredients and spoil the mood for both you and the children, who will refuse to eat it altogether.

7. Basil.
Oh, how much praise we hear about fresh, fragrant basil leaves. Despite the fact that they are used mostly in Italian cuisine, in small quantities they are great as an additive for various dressings. The fact is that it is its rich, bitter taste that perfectly reveals fresh vegetables.

8. Dried Italian herbs.
And this is a small, kind of life hack. Just keep dried herbs among your spices and add small amounts to any salads and main dishes - the spirit of the Mediterranean will not keep you waiting.

Experiment with mixing these ingredients in different proportions and you will always end up with a fresh, unusual and surprisingly delicious salad. I wish you success!

(Visitors 24 641 times, 1 visits today)

Greek salad is the perfect way to cook raw vegetables in a delicious and original way. The main secret of this dish is that it is prepared just before serving: then the ingredients retain their freshness and appetizing appearance. The classic Greek salad recipe can be changed by adding new ingredients and using all kinds of sauces.

The most popular recipe includes a standard set of ingredients and an oil and lemon dressing that pairs perfectly with vegetables.

Would need:

  • 2 medium cucumbers;
  • 1 sweet pepper;
  • 1 onion;
  • 100 g fetax;
  • 2 large tomatoes;
  • 0.5 lemon;
  • 20 pitted olives;
  • 60 ml olive oil;
  • 3 g oregano;
  • salt and black pepper to taste.

Cooking steps.

  1. The vegetables are thoroughly washed and dried.
  2. Cucumbers and tomatoes are cut into large cubes, peppers - into strips, onions - into thin half rings.
  3. The vegetables are evenly distributed in the salad bowl.
  4. Juice is squeezed out of half a lemon. Mix it with butter and oregano.
  5. Salad is salted, pepper and sprinkled with dressing. Stir.
  6. Fetaxa is cut into cubes and laid out beautifully on top of vegetables.
  7. The olives are cut in half lengthwise and used to decorate the salad.

Note to the hostess: to make the appetizer look more spectacular, you can take half of the bell peppers of different colors.

Salad like in Greece

The peculiarity of this Greek salad is that the vegetables are cut very coarsely and not mixed. All ingredients for this dish must be chilled.

Required products:

  • 2 medium tomatoes;
  • half an onion (purple);
  • 1 Bulgarian pepper;
  • 1 cucumber;
  • 100 g feta;
  • 12 pitted olives;
  • 2 g oregano;
  • 60 ml olive oil;
  • 2 ml table vinegar;
  • 4 lettuce leaves.

Cooking technology.

  1. The cucumber, peeled from the peel, is cut into larger circles, the pepper - in large cubes, the onion - in half rings.
  2. Cut the tomatoes into 6 pieces.
  3. The bottom of a deep cup is lined with lettuce leaves.
  4. Cucumbers are placed on them, tomatoes and peppers are placed on top.
  5. In a separate bowl combine the onion and oregano, sprinkle with vinegar, stir and leave for a quarter of an hour.
  6. The onion mixture is spread over the tomatoes.
  7. Feta is placed in a whole piece on a salad, olives are laid around.
  8. Pour olive oil over the dish without stirring.

Greek salad with chicken and croutons

Adding croutons and meat to Greek salad with fetaxa will add new flavors to the traditional dish and make it more nutritious.

Grocery list:

  • 400 g of boiled chicken;
  • 2 small cucumbers;
  • 2 tomatoes;
  • half bell pepper;
  • 0.5 onions;
  • 150 g lettuce;
  • 100 g fetax;
  • 100 g of white croutons;
  • 70 g olives;
  • salt, oil for dressing, a mixture of Provencal herbs to taste.

Recipe.

  1. Clean and dry lettuce leaves are torn by hand and laid out on a flat plate.
  2. Cut the peeled onion into half rings, the rest of the vegetables into large pieces.
  3. Vegetables are placed on lettuce and salted.
  4. Fetaxa is cut into cubes, chicken - into small pieces.
  5. Meat and olives are spread between vegetables, fetaxu and crackers are placed on top.
  6. The salad is seasoned with herbs and poured over with oil.

Recipe with feta cheese and olives

Thanks to the addition of feta cheese, this salad turns out to be more satisfying and spicy.

The composition includes products:

  • 1 cucumber;
  • 1 tomato;
  • 150 g salted cheese;
  • 100 g pitted olives;
  • 15 g dill;
  • 40 ml of olive oil.

Step by step recipe.

  1. The cheese is cut into cubes and placed in a bowl.
  2. Whole olives are added.
  3. Tomato and cucumber are also cut into squares and placed on top of the olives.
  4. Add chopped dill.
  5. All ingredients are poured with oil and mixed.

Classic recipe with pine nuts

Nuts significantly increase the nutritional value of the salad and give it an original taste.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tomatoes;
  • 1 yellow or green pepper;
  • 2 cucumbers;
  • 40 ml olive oil;
  • 20 g mustard;
  • 100 g of pine nuts without shell;
  • 2 g of salt.

Cooking steps.

  1. Cucumbers are cut into thick half-rings, peppers - into long cubes, tomatoes - into larger slices.
  2. Mix the vegetables.
  3. Pour nuts on top.
  4. Greek salad with nuts is seasoned with a mixture of olive oil, salt and mustard.

Helpful Hint: Pine nuts can be pre-fried in a dry skillet. Then they will acquire a more piquant taste due to the oils released during the frying process.

The original version in pita bread

A salad prepared in this way is convenient to take with you in order to have a snack with it at any time.

Ingredient List:

  • 1 thin pita bread;
  • 100 g feta;
  • 3 small tomatoes;
  • 2 cucumbers;
  • 1 sweet pepper;
  • 1 red onion;
  • 100 g olives;
  • 20 ml lemon juice;
  • 50 ml of oil for refueling;
  • 3 g of salt and oregano.

Cooking technology.

  1. Pepper and tomatoes are cut into cubes. If the cucumbers have a dense skin, they are peeled and cut into the same pieces.
  2. The onion is cut into thin rings and disassembled.
  3. All vegetables are gently mixed in a salad bowl.
  4. Add olives.
  5. At the end, feta cubes are placed.
  6. Mix oil, lemon juice, salt and seasoning in a separate bowl.
  7. Salad is spread on a sheet of pita bread and sprinkled with dressing.
  8. Lavash is rolled up in an envelope or a tube. You can cut it into portions.

Greek salad sauce - cooking methods

The most common dressing for this dish is a mixture of olive oil and freshly made lemon juice. It is important to use only high-quality oil, the label of which is labeled Extra virgin.

Original sauces will help to give a new taste to the dish.

Balsamic Vinegar Dressing

  1. Whisk 50 ml of balsamic vinegar with 10 g of brown sugar and chopped garlic clove.
  2. While stirring constantly, 120 ml of olive oil is added.
  3. The dressing is complemented with salt and black pepper to taste.

Low Calorie Sauce

  1. Combine 100 g of natural yogurt (preferably homemade), a garlic clove squeezed through a press and 50 ml of lemon juice.
  2. Add 10 ml of red wine vinegar.
  3. Salt and pepper the sauce if desired.

Mustard honey dressing

  1. Mix 100 ml of vegetable oil and 10 g of ready-made mustard.
  2. Add 20 g of a little warmed honey and stir until it is completely dispersed.
  3. Half a lemon is squeezed into the sauce.
  4. Stirring continuously, add 50 ml of olive oil.
  5. Add 10 ml of wine vinegar and 5 ml of lemon juice.

Dressing with soy sauce

  1. 20 ml of liquid honey is mixed with 40 ml of soy sauce until completely homogeneous.
  2. Inject 20 ml of freshly squeezed lemon juice, stirring constantly with a whisk.
  3. Continuing to stir, add 80 ml of olive oil.