Greek summer salad checks all the boxes

CHEF RANDY

Greek summer salad

Greek summer salad has sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, Kalamata olives and feta cheese topped with a dressing of olive oil and red wine vinegar and a dash of oregano and mint. Photo by Randy Graham

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By Randy Graham

Correspondent

What makes a salad “Greek”? According to the internet, it’s made with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, green bell peppers, red onion, Kalamata olives, feta cheese, olive oil, red wine vinegar and oregano. My recipe includes all of this and more.

I’ve heard they call this a village salad in Greece. I call it delicious!

Yield: 4 servings

INGREDIENTS

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

1 garlic clove (minced)

½ teaspoon dried oregano

¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

English cucumber (cut lengthwise, seeded and sliced ¼-inch thick)

1 green bell pepper (chopped into 1-inch pieces)

2 cups cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

5 ounces feta cheese (cut into ½ inch cubes)

? cup thinly sliced red onion

? cup pitted Kalamata olives

? cup fresh mint leaves (garnish)

Bibb lettuce (for plating)

DIRECTIONS

1. Place 4 salad plates in the refrigerator to get them cold.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the first seven ingredients — olive oil through black pepper — and set this dressing aside.

3. Remove the salad plates from the refrigerator. Place the lettuce leaves on each plate. Arrange the cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes, feta, onions and olives on top of the lettuce. Drizzle with the dressing and gently toss. Sprinkle with a few generous pinches of oregano and garnish with the mint leaves.

Randy Graham is a private chef and author whose cookbooks include “The Ojai Valley Cookbook,” “The Ojai Valley Vegetarian” and the “The Ojai Valley Vegan.”