“Greek” salad is a real treasure for lovers of a healthy and varied diet. A cocktail of fresh vegetables, tender cheese and olive seed oil... looks very bright and appetizing on the table, saturates with vitamins and a fresh, pronounced taste. All these indisputable advantages are complemented by another and very significant one - a minimum of calories! But how can you make this salad tasty, maybe remove the olives or add chicken?..

All this can be done; the salad is so versatile that it easily tolerates harmless modifications and gives beautiful results to even the most inexperienced cook. You can find many ways to prepare this salad on the Internet, but the most interesting is still the different serving options. For example, sometimes vegetables are cut coarsely, and a piece of cheese, instead of cutting it into cubes, is placed in a solid large rectangle on top. The dish takes on a much more impressive, restaurant look, and all this is so simple and quick. The salad just requires chopping all the ingredients and... that's it! 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 one of the simpler ones. 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. Wash all vegetables thoroughly, cut off excess parts, and remove seeds from peppers.
It is worth noting that tomatoes for salad should be ripe and red. This greatly influences the taste 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 up, and the taste of the brought vegetables will probably not be too promising.

Step 2. Immediately take a beautiful deep salad bowl. We strongly recommend that you opt for transparent dishes, as they will be able to most beautifully and vividly convey the appearance and taste of the salad and decorate the festive table.

Step 3: Now it's time to chop the ingredients. As a standard, the salad includes vegetables cut into large cubes. Of course, depending on your taste preferences, 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 a whole olive.
So, cut the cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and cheese.
But it is better to tear the lettuce leaves into small pieces with your hands.

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

Step 5. It's time for miracles, let's prepare the most delicious thing - dressing. Take a small saucepan or bowl and first mix the dry ingredients in it - salt, black pepper, herbs. And then pour them with a tablespoon of lemon juice. It will be much easier to squeeze the juice out of a lemon 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 adding olive oil there. Add gradually, stirring constantly so that the mixture does not separate. In total, for this amount of vegetables you need about 3-5 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 over the vegetables in the vase and mix the salad thoroughly. Then place the cheese cubes on top and mix again, but very carefully and just a little. The salad is ready, serve quickly and enjoy the healthy and tasty table decoration.

Bon appetit!

Classic recipe for Greek salad with croutons

No matter how good the original recipe is, you always want to improve it at least a little, right? For example, many housewives find Greek salad not crunchy enough and lacking good carbohydrates. Therefore, we decided to give you a salad recipe in which homemade garlic croutons are added to the usual composition, which add richness and spice to the dish, thanks to which it does not lose at all in appearance, but acquires additional advantages.

Ingredients:

Red bell pepper – 1 large;
large tomatoes - 2 pieces;
fresh cucumber – 2 large or 4 small;
green salad leaves - 1 bunch or 1\2 heads of Chinese cabbage;
olives and olives (or one thing) preferably 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 loaf or roll;

How to cook:

Step 1. Let's first prepare the crackers, because they need time while they dry in the oven, we will 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 garlic and add 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the mixture. Then, cut the pieces of bread into large cubes (the size of an olive) and generously brush them with the butter mixture. Distribute the bread evenly on a baking tray and place in an oven preheated to 70 degrees. You will need to bake the crackers for about 20-30 minutes, but we recommend that you check them every 5-10 minutes and stir lightly - they should not burn under any circumstances.

Step 2. Wash all vegetables thoroughly and remove wrinkles, dirt and places from which they were picked. All seeds must be removed from the peppers. Don't forget about the high quality of the ingredients, it is very important.

Step 3: Prepare your dishes. Cut all the vegetables into large cubes, tear the leaves of Chinese cabbage.
In this recipe, we use Chinese cabbage to give the salad a similar feel to Caesar salad because we use similar croutons. Of course, you can also use green salad, depending on 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 gravy boat, combine pepper, herbs and salt and grind into a paste along with a tablespoon of lemon juice. Stirring constantly, add three to five tablespoons of olive oil.

Step 5. Place vegetables and olives in a salad bowl, pour in dressing and mix thoroughly. Add the cheese and lightly stir it into the vase again. Top with croutons. Do this as carefully as possible so that they do not get wet and the salad turns out fresh and tasty.

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

Greek classic salad with chicken

No matter how much we love Greek salad, something is always missing from it... It seems like there is cheese, vegetables, and butter... But where is the meat? If you've ever asked yourself this question, then this recipe is definitely written for you.

Despite the traditional recipe, preserved 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 one, we will prepare the chicken in the best traditions - juicy fry the fillet until crispy and golden brown, cut it and only then let it go into our chic salad. Shall we get started?

Ingredients:

Chicken fillet – 150 – 200 grams;
garlic clove for marinade;
red bell pepper – 1 large;
large tomatoes - 2 pieces;
fresh cucumber – 2 large or 4 small;
green salad leaves - 1 bunch or 1\2 heads of Chinese cabbage;
olives and olives (or one thing) preferably 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 first need to peel the garlic and wash the chicken fillet. There is no need to cut the fillet; we will do this with already prepared meat. But the garlic needs to be crushed with the flat side of a large knife and finely chopped. Mix half a teaspoon of salt, garlic, and a little black pepper in a small bowl. You can add chicken seasoning. Pour the mixture with a tablespoon of lemon juice and brush the fillet with this paste. Leave to marinate at room temperature for half an hour to an hour.

Step 2. Now rinse and clean the vegetables. Remove the seeds from the peppers and cut off 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 Chinese cabbage because of its excellent compatibility with chicken. 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, pour in the olive oil, stirring.

Step 4. You need to fry the chicken. To do this, heat a frying pan with a thick bottom over high heat and grease its surface with oil. When the pan is hot, add the chicken and fry on each side for at least 5 minutes, each side should be golden and crispy. To check readiness, you can pierce the fillet with a fork. If the juice comes out cloudy or pinkish, you need to fry it further. If there is no juice or it is clear, everything is fine, you can remove the chicken.
Let it cool for 10-15 minutes.

Step 5. Still cut the chicken, which has cooled at least a little, into strips. Place all the vegetables, olives and meat in a bowl, pour in the dressing and mix everything thoroughly. Add the cheese on top and stir lightly again, but don't get too carried away.

Serve as soon as possible. Bon appetit!

Greek salad without olives

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

Ingredients:

Green salad – 1 package;
red bell pepper – 1 piece, large;
fresh, ripe tomatoes – 2 large;
large pickled cucumbers, spicy salted – 2 pieces;
feta cheese;
vegetable oil - 3 tablespoons;
salt, herbs, pepper;

How to cook?

Step 1. As you can see, to replace the pickled olives, we replace them with pickled cucumber. This is an excellent solution to restore the acidity and flavor balance of the salad. You can also replace tomatoes if you don’t have any pickles on hand.
So, wash and peel the vegetables from seeds and “roots”, cut into large cubes.
It is also better to lightly rinse pickled cucumbers under running cold water to wash off excess salt from the surface and cut them in the same way as other vegetables.

Step 2. Cut the cheese into small cubes. If you don’t like cheese, you can return your favorite “Feta” to its rightful place. The fact is that feta cheese has a brighter and saltier taste, which, when eliminating olives and olive oil, plays into our hands. In general, in almost any cooking method 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 scare away guests with its excessive saltiness.

Step 3. Prepare a vase and place all the vegetables in it, tear the salad. Prepare the dressing. To do this, mix salt, herbs and pepper with vegetable oil, pour dressing over the finished salad. In this version of preparing the salad, you can add cheese to the bowl along with the vegetables and safely mix everything, since you will have to try really hard to spread the cheese, 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 that dressing can only be prepared in one specific way? But no! No matter how authentic a salad dressed with olive oil may be, it turns out much more interesting if you use complex dressing recipes consisting of various spices, juices, oils and other things. Just something as simple and insignificant as it seems to many, a dressing can radically change the entire dish, and we want to tell you how, offer different options and ideas, be sure to try it!

Let's first identify a number of ingredients that are perfect for this salad. It's no secret that there is a certain principle of food compatibility and not every ingredient for such a salad will be a good choice.

1. Olive oil.
Of course, you can’t run away from him. 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 acid and a pleasant, delicate taste, lemon juice fits perfectly into a vegetable cocktail.

3. Mustard.
Almost any restaurant salad improves in taste if you add mustard to it. Of course, you shouldn’t get carried away, but in small quantities it will be the cherry on top of the cake.

4. Honey
For many, the amazing properties of honey and its ability to reveal the subtlest notes of the taste of products seem like a legend, but this is actually true. For almost any restaurant sauce, a few drops of honey is the best solution, which experienced chefs always use.

5. Balsamic vinegar.
Balsamic vinegar is a product that is difficult to obtain 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 mix! Its unusual taste will not disappoint anyone.

6. Garlic.
There is no need to even talk about the taste qualities of garlic; everyone knows them. Grind one small clove into the sauce and you can achieve the best praise from your guests. But don’t overdo it, this is the biggest mistake of many housewives. Excessive spiciness will simply cover up the taste of all other ingredients and ruin 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 mainly used in Italian cuisine, in small quantities they are excellent 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 quantities to any salads and main courses - 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 new, unusual and surprisingly tasty salad. I wish you success!

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Today our gastronomic travels have brought us to Greece, a country with an extraordinary history, architecture, stunning natural beauty and original colorful cuisine. This time we are mastering the recipe for a classic Greek salad!

There are three legends that are considered one of the stories behind the origin of the delicious Greek salad. They all have one thing in common: the ingredients chosen are simple, the most common products in Greece: vegetables, cheese, herbs, olive oil. Obviously, the creator of the dish did not have the task of impressing with exquisite ingredients, spectacular presentation or a special recipe. A tasty dish, simple and quick - that’s what the chef was striving for.

Each of us can perfectly replicate the taste of this dish and it’s really simple. But sometimes small difficulties arise. And this is natural! We have prepared solutions!

Vegetables and greens

Fresh vegetables without scratches or cuts - this is the only way they will make your Greek salad amazingly tasty! The tomatoes should be tight so that the flesh does not fall apart from the skin when stirring. The greens in the salad are also good - fresh chopped basil, which, if desired, is sprinkled on the salad before serving. If necessary, parsley should not be substituted.

What determines such a multifaceted taste of Greek salad?

It's cheese! Cheese sets the tone for the entire dish; it is just that piquant note that creates a perfect symbiosis with the freshness of vegetables. In its homeland, the dish uses feta cheese, which must be broken into large pieces or served in a single layer on top of the vegetables. - this is what the original, classic version of Greek salad looks like. Later, the cooking option with feta cheese, which has a light creamy taste, became especially popular. In fact, in every restaurant where the menu contains this delicacy, feta is cut at its own discretion, but in Russia the cube shape is the most popular.

How to properly cut feta or cheese?

We often notice that feta crumbles and feta cheese sticks to the knife while slicing. To avoid such a nuisance, store these products in the refrigerator until almost ready to serve the dish. The cheese must be very cold, then everything will work out! Also wet the knife in cold water. Do you cut cheese? Use a brush to coat the knife with olive oil. Or you can choose another tool, such as thread or fishing line.

Greek salad dressing

How simple it is: olive oil, and that’s all! Not at all. Following the authentic recipe for a classic Greek salad, you must first mix cold-pressed olive oil with oregano. The finished dish is also sprinkled with lemon juice or added to the dressing, and a couple of drops of vinegar. You can also add a little ground black pepper.

To stir or not? How to submit?

Combine all the ingredients, pour generously of the dressing and mix thoroughly - actions that are extremely inappropriate. When used, the cheese begins to warm up, and the greens get wet and lose their shape. Vegetables are beautifully arranged along with coarsely torn herbs, then cheese - and this is for each serving. Then season with butter sauce.

Classic Greek salad recipe

• Red bell pepper - 2 pcs.
• Yellow bell pepper - optional
• Long-fruited cucumber - 1 piece
• Feta - 200 gr
• Red sweet onion - 2 pcs.
• Small tomatoes - 5 pcs or cherry tomatoes - 250 g
• Olives - 230-250 gr
• Salad, you can use your favorite - 1 bunch
• Basil - 2-3 sprigs

……………………………...

• Olive oil - 5-6 tbsp
• Oregano - 0.5 tsp
• Balsamic vinegar - a little less than 1 tsp
• Lemon juice - a couple of drops

How to cook:

1. Rinse vegetables and herbs and dry on a paper towel. At this time, prepare the dressing.
2. Combine oil and oregano in a bowl, then stir in vinegar. Add lemon juice (no more than 0.5 tsp) and mix again until smooth.
3. Tear the greens with your hands or chop them coarsely. A special occasion? Separate a few leaves and place on a plate.
4. Cut the tomatoes into slices, cherry tomatoes into slices, cucumber into thin slices, onion into half rings.
5. Also cut the pepper into large circles, and then into 4 more parts.
6. Chop the basil, you can separate it into inflorescences and decorate the salad with it when serving.
7. In a chaotic order, place all the prepared vegetables on top of the lettuce leaves.
8. Then distribute the olives and feta cubes.
9. Drizzle the Greek salad with dressing and garnish with basil.

The most important thing about a Greek salad is the fresh ingredients, not the cutting or serving. The Greeks usually cut their salad into large pieces, and put the olives right with the pit, and the Greek olives have a buttery taste. The main herb in the salad is oregano and a little basil is added.

Cucumbers, shallots, and olive oil are often used in the salad. In general, various tricks and variations are allowed here. After all, Greek salad is a simple version of country salad, made from the most basic ingredients found in every country house.

Often, instead of shallots, recipes use sweet salad onions or even regular onions. Olive oil can be replaced with sunflower oil. It is better to take pitted olives. If you don’t have oregano and basil, you can replace them with simple lettuce leaves or any fresh herbs from the garden - the main thing is that it will be a summer and light salad.

An important ingredient, feta cheese, can be found everywhere today, but in extreme cases it can be replaced with Adyghe cheese, feta cheese.

Greek salad according to the classic recipe

Ingredients:

• cucumber - 2 pcs.;
• bell pepper - 1 pc.;
• tomato with dense pulp - 2 pcs.;
• medium-sized Crimean blue onion - 1 pc.;
• olives, large and pitted - 20 pcs.;
• olive oil - 2-3 tbsp. l.;
• feta cheese - 80-100 gr.;
• oregano - ½ tsp. dry grass;
• lemon juice - 1-1.5 tbsp. l.;
• salt, pepper - to taste.

Cooking process

Wash all vegetables. Cut cucumbers and tomatoes into large pieces (2-2.5 cm). Cucumbers can be peeled first if the peel is too hard.

Chop the blue onion into half rings. Peel the peppers from seeds and white membranes, cut into 2-2.5 cm squares. Olives can be left whole or cut in half.

Place the vegetables in a salad bowl and season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix everything carefully with two large spatulas.

Beat olive oil with lemon juice, add oregano to it, slightly rubbing the herb with your fingers. Season the salad with the resulting sauce.

Cut feta cheese into large pieces, similar to vegetables, and place on top of the salad. Throw a pinch of oregano on top. Salad ready.

It is allowed to replace part of the onion with garlic in the salad, but the cloves will have to be chopped into small cubes with a knife.

Options for preparing ingredients for Greek salad

Onion

Onions for Greek salad

Onions can be pre-marinated before adding to the salad. The easiest way is to chop the onion and pour it with a mixture of vinegar (3 parts) and sugar (2 parts) with a pinch of salt. Let stand for half an hour, drain in a colander and add to other vegetables.

To reduce bitterness, you can cut the onion smaller or mix two varieties - white and blue onions in the desired proportion of 1:2 or 1:1.

cucumbers

Cucumbers for Greek salad

Cucumbers can be cut figuratively or, for example, alternating pieces with the peel removed and with the peel left. The zebra cucumber looks beautiful in a salad when every piece in the salad looks white and green.

Tomatoes

Tomatoes for Greek salad

With tomatoes, it is better to experiment not with cutting, but with a combination of different varieties and colors. Cherry tomatoes look great in a salad. They need to be cut in half. The colors combine red and orange fruits well. It looks impressive, and besides, rich and low-acid orange tomatoes will add meatiness to the salad, reducing the sourness. If desired, you can even peel the tomatoes by scalding them with boiling water.

Pepper

Pepper for Greek salad

A multi-color option is also suitable with pepper. In this case, it is better to cut fruits of different colors into thin strips rather than into cubes. For those who like to experiment, there is an unusual idea: peel the vegetable with a sharp knife or peeler. This option is for those who want to add sublimity and a delicate taste to the dish; it is also perfect for serving Greek salad on a holiday table.

How to replace feta cheese

Typically in Russian cuisine, feta cheese is replaced with salted feta cheese; a product made from goat's milk is especially suitable.

As a last resort, you can take large pieces of processed cheese with a strong flavor of herbs or smoked meats. In this case, the salad needs a little more salt.

Another option for Greek salad is with Dutch cheese. You just need to make the pieces smaller. This recipe is no longer a classic, but it may well appeal, especially to men.

How to dress a Greek salad

A classic Greek salad is dressed with a mixture of lemon juice, olive oil and fresh or dried oregano. But if for some reason you cannot find these components or you want to diversify the taste of your favorite dish, the option of mixing other seasonings and herbs is allowed. For example, you can add coarsely torn lettuce leaves of different varieties (curly, iceberg) and chopped wild garlic strips to the dish. According to your taste, you can include thyme and parsley in the dish.

For housewives who love experiments, as a bold idea, you can suggest seasoning a portion of Greek salad with honey-mustard sauce.

Honey mustard sauce: an unusual and tasty dressing option

Take medium or mild mustard (can be with grains), honey and olive oil in a ratio of 1:1:2. Mix everything and beat with a whisk. If the sauce is too thick, add more oil. Serve with salad in a separate sauce boat.

You can also vary the dressing for Greek salad by adding other oils (mustard, corn, sesame), bread crumbs or toasted salted croutons for flavor. Those who like a strong taste can add garlic to the sauce, passed through a garlic press.

If you used lightly salted cheese for your salad, such as feta cheese or Dutch cheese, try using a dressing recipe with soy sauce, which is traditionally salty and rich.

Ingredients:

• olive oil - 2 tbsp. spoons;
• soy sauce - 1 tbsp. spoon;
• apple cider vinegar - 1 tbsp. spoon;
• mustard (medium or low heat) - 1 teaspoon.

To prepare the sauce, whisk all ingredients. Serve the dressing separately in a gravy boat.

Greek salad with oregano, dill and mint: step-by-step recipe

Ingredients:

• cucumber - 2 pcs.;
• cherry tomatoes - 300 gr.;
• sweet yellow pepper - 1 pc.;
• handfuls of black olives;
• mint leaves - to taste;
• wine vinegar (can be replaced with apple cider vinegar) - 1 tbsp. l.;
• vegetable oil - 3 tbsp. l.;
• oregano - 1 tsp;
• salt - to taste;
• salad onion - 1 head;
• dill and lettuce - to taste;
• feta cheese - 200-300 g.

Cooking process

Wash all vegetables and dry off excess water. Cut the cucumbers into medium pieces. Cut cherry tomatoes in half or into 4 parts. Place cucumbers and tomatoes in a deep dish.

Cut the pepper into large strips. It is advisable to use yellow peppers so that the colors in the dish blend beautifully.

Add pepper to cucumbers and tomatoes. Cut the onion into thin half rings and separate into thin strips. Add to the dish, mix everything carefully.

Finely chop mint leaves, dill and other greens and add to the total mixture in the dish. Season the salad with salt and pepper, add olives or black olives, mix everything.

Making salad dressing

Pour 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil (or other vegetable) into a deep bowl and add a teaspoon of wine vinegar to it. Stir and add half a teaspoon of oregano. Mix everything thoroughly.

Season the salad with the prepared dressing, leaving a little, a little more than a teaspoon. Mix the salad.

Place lettuce leaves on a serving dish and place half of the total mass of vegetables from the bowl on them. Distribute the salad evenly throughout the dish.

Cut the cheese into cubes the size of the olives. Place some of the cheese in a cup with the remaining dressing and roll the cheese in it, so the pieces will not stick together. Plus, these pieces look beautiful.

Carefully place the cheese with some of the dressing on a plate with half of the salad. Place the other half of the vegetable mass on top of the cheese. Carefully level everything out. Place the remaining cheese in the bowl where the salad was, add a spoonful of olive oil, sprinkle oregano on top and mix everything.

Place the cheese and oregano into the salad and spread it over the surface. Sprinkle a little oregano on top of the entire mound of salad. In total, the entire salad will use about 1 teaspoon of oregano. Serve the Greek salad.

You can decorate the salad with a mint leaf.

Tricks and options for serving Greek salad

The portioned serving of salad, practiced in restaurants in Greece, is interesting. It is extremely laconic: the client receives a deep plate of vegetables without sliced ​​cheese. All the cheese lies in one piece on top of the vegetable slices. Thus, the client himself decides how he will eat it.

Likewise, the sauce is now almost always served in a separate container for each serving. So everyone will determine for themselves how much and when they need to add dressing to the Greek salad.

This is very convenient for the housewife. As long as the salad is not seasoned with sauce, it keeps better. You can chop the vegetables a few hours before the guests arrive, and pour the sauce over them before serving. Moreover, if possible, the salad should be dressed after serving portions, so that guests do not have to worry about putting salad on their plates and distributing the sauce.

Sometimes very large pieces of vegetables and cheese are mixed in a salad without much stirring. Many people don’t like serving in large pieces, but it has its advantages: those who don’t like onions or olives can easily remove them.

Generous Greeks try to share healthy and tasty recipes with the world. Thus, a salad of the same name came to us from Greece, which gained wide popularity among Russians. Later, experienced housewives adapted the classic technology in their own way, adding and excluding certain ingredients.

Greek salad “Classic of the genre”

• cucumber - 1 pc.
• tomato - 3-4 pcs.
• olive oil - 85 ml.
• pickled capers - 5-7 pcs.
• bell pepper - 2 pcs.
• sweet onions (preferably purple) - 50 gr.
• lemon juice - 60 ml.
• soft cheese (such as “Feta”, “Brynza”, “Fetax”) - 190 gr.
• pitted olives - 18 pcs.

1. Rinse tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers. Peel each vegetable in a convenient way, leaving only the edible part. Chop the cucumber into half-slices, the tomato into half-rings, and the pepper into short strips.
2. Remove the skins from the onion, then chop into rings or half rings. Scald with boiling water to protect the dish from possible bitterness. Place the prepared vegetables in a salad bowl.
3. Now cut each olive into 2 parts (you can skip this step), and chop the capers into slices. Send to the main components. Combine olive oil with fresh citrus juice, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4. Pour the dressing over the salad and mix gently with a tablespoon. Work with the cheese separately. It must first be cut into 1 cm thick plates, then chop this plate into cubes. The cheese is placed on top of all the ingredients.

Greek salad with Chinese cabbage

• soft cheese (for example, Feta) - 140 gr.
• Chinese cabbage - 190 gr.
• sweet pepper - 1.5 pcs.
• apple cider vinegar with a concentration of 6% - 35 ml.
• Provençal spices - at your discretion
• olive oil - 110 ml.
• fresh tomato - 110 gr.
• olives - 90-100 gr.

1. Wash the cabbage leaves and tear them with your hands into relatively equal pieces. Rinse the sweet pepper and remove the seeds. Chop the pulp into not very long strips.
2. Remove the stems from the washed tomatoes and cut them into cubes. Drain the water from the olives, cut each fruit into several parts. First cut the feta into plates, then into cubes 1-2 cm in size.
3. Select a salad bowl and place the listed ingredients into it, except cheese. Prepare a dressing from apple cider vinegar, Provençal herbs, salt, and olive oil. Pour it over the mixture. Place feta on top of the entire mixture.

Greek salad with minced chicken and garlic

• Greek yogurt (natural) - 180-190 gr.
• soft cheese - 140 gr.
• onions (preferably red) - 50 gr.
• minced chicken - 370 gr.
• tomatoes - 3-4 pcs.
• cucumbers - 2 pcs.
• sweet pepper (preferably pickled) - 2 pcs.
• garlic - 3 cloves
• olive oil - 40 ml.
• dill - 30 gr.
• sour cream - 160 gr.
• olives - 15 pcs.
• freshly ground pepper - to taste

1. Beat the minced chicken on a cutting board until it becomes airy. Salt and add ground pepper. Add the garlic cloves, having previously crushed the spice in a press.
2. Place the meat in a heated frying pan and fry in oil until done. Then cool and place in a salad bowl as the first layer. Chop the onion into rings and add to the chicken.
3. Now drain the oil from the pickled peppers, cut the pickles into pieces of the same size. Place the onion on top and add the diced tomatoes.
4. Chop cucumbers, dill, and olives into a common salad bowl (cut into 2 parts). Prepare a dressing based on sour cream, olive oil, spices, and yogurt. Fill all the ingredients with it. Place pieces of soft cheese on top and serve cold.

• carrots - 1 pc.
• vinegar solution (table) - 10 ml.
• ripe tomato - 4 pcs.
• granulated sugar - 20 gr.
• white onions - 2 pcs.
• ground pepper - 2 gr.
• cucumber - 2 pcs.
• Fetaxa cheese - 100 gr.
• salt - to your taste
• bell pepper - 1 pc.
• red beans (dry, in packs) - 300 gr.
• olives - 17 pcs.
• olive or corn oil - in fact

1. First you need to cook the beans. Wash it through a colander, then soak it in a separate container for 5 hours. After the allotted time, pour out the water and boil the beans until tender.
2. Now rinse and cook the carrots, then let them cool and peel them. Chop the vegetable in any order (cubes, slices, half-slices, bars, etc.).
3. Remove the skin from the onion and chop the vegetable into half rings. Mix granulated sugar with vinegar and 200 ml. water. Place the onion in this solution for 15 minutes. Then drain the liquid.
4. Wash the tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers. Cut out all inedible parts. Chop the tomatoes into slices, cucumbers into slices or bars, peppers into strips.
5. Now combine all the ingredients for the salad. Prepare the dressing separately: measure the amount of oil required for pouring, salt and pepper it. Season the vegetables with this mixture, top with olives and diced soft cheese.

Greek salad with prunes

• olive oil - 90 ml.
• Cheese "Brynza" - 160 gr.
• cucumber - 90-100 gr.
• purple onion - 1 pc.
• olives - 45 gr.
• Cherry tomatoes - 10 pcs.
• prunes - 3-4 pcs.
• sweet pepper - 60 gr.
• oregano - to your taste

1. Squeeze the cheese from the liquid and leave to drain. Then cut first into plates, then into equal cubes or bars. Soak the prunes in cool water for 2 hours in advance and dry.
2. Chop the dried fruit in any order and place it in the salad bowl first row. Place cucumbers and olives cut into half slices on top.
3. Now peel the bell pepper and chop into strips. Cut the cherry tomatoes into 2 parts. Place ingredients in main bowl. Chop the onions here.
4. For dressing, mix olive oil with salt and ground pepper, add oregano. Pour the mixture over the salad, garnish with cheese cubes and let stand in the cold for 15 minutes.

Greek salad with radishes

• olives - 12-16 pcs.
• tomato - 3 pcs.
• radishes - 7 pcs.
• cucumber - 1 pc.
• apple cider vinegar - 40 ml.
• olive or corn oil - 90 ml.
• sweet pepper - 1.5 pcs.
• soft cheese “Feta” - 160 gr.

1. Wash the tomatoes with radishes, cucumbers and peppers. Free all vegetables from inedible parts. Cut the radishes into thin slices, chop the cucumbers into slices, tomatoes into cubes or cubes, peppers into strips.
2. Place the vegetables in a salad bowl and add the halved olives. Mix vinegar with olive oil, salt, and ground pepper. Season the salad with this mixture.
3. Divide the dish among plates and top with cubes of soft Feta cheese. You can replace the last ingredient with feta cheese or fetaxa. Serve chilled.

• lettuce leaves - 70 gr.
• soft cheese (feta is suitable) - 190 gr.
• olives - 180 gr.
• Armenian lavash (thin) - 2 pcs.
• lemon juice - 25-30 ml.
• cucumber - 2-3 pcs.
• garlic cloves - 3 pcs.
• olive oil - 60 ml.
• tomato - 4 pcs.
• bell pepper - 1 pc.

1. Free the olives from liquid and cut into 2 parts. Rinse the tomatoes and cucumbers, wipe and chop. Remove the garlic from the shell and chop with a knife or press.
2. The cheese must first be shredded into 1.5 cm thick slices, then each slice must be cut into cubes. Tear the lettuce with your hands or cut into large sections.
3. Take a deep bowl. Pour in lemon juice, olive oil, chopped garlic, Provençal spices (optional), finely chopped dill (optional), salt and pepper.
4. Pour the resulting dressing over all salad ingredients except cheese. Place the feta on top. Now spread the pita bread on the table, put half of the salad on it. Cover with a second sheet of lavash, add the second part of the “Greek”.
5. Wrap the entire contents in a roll. To prevent the filling from falling out, fold the edges inward. Before serving, cut the “sausage” into portions 6-8 cm thick. Serve the salad chilled.

Greek salad with butter

• olive oil - 110 ml.
• fresh cucumber - 1-1.5 pcs.
• soft cheese "Fetaksa" - 145-160 gr.
• apple cider vinegar - 10-15 ml.
• Provençal herbs - to your taste
• olives - 12 pcs.
• butter - 60 gr.
• lettuce or Chinese cabbage - 50 gr.
• Cherry tomatoes - 5 pcs.

1. Rinse the cherry tomatoes, cut each tomato into 2 parts. Wash the cucumbers, cut off the tails, chop into half slices. Halve the olives. Combine all ingredients in a salad bowl.
2. Cut the lettuce leaves with a knife or tear them into relatively equal pieces with your hands. Add to vegetables. Melt the butter over steam or a water bath, mix it with olive, spices and vinegar.
3. Pour the prepared dressing over the salad, stir and taste for salt. If it is not enough, enter the appropriate component. Now remove the fetax from the packaging, cut into cubes and decorate the finished dish.

Greek salad with beets

• Cherry tomatoes - 7 pcs.
• cucumber - 1 pc.
• beets - 0.5 pcs.
• lemon juice - 25 ml.
• olive oil - 60 ml.
• olives - 8 pcs.
• lettuce leaves - 5 pcs.
• feta cheese - 90 gr.

1. Rinse all the vegetables and cut them into cubes, slices, bars or strips. If you wish, you can add bell pepper to the salad, freeing it from the seeds.
2. Boil the beets, then let them cool and cut into cubes. Stir in main ingredients. Tear the lettuce leaves into a salad bowl and prepare a dressing of lemon juice and oil.
3. Chop the cheese into cubes of equal size, then place the cheese on top of all the ingredients along with the olives. Let the salad sit in the refrigerator for 20 minutes and serve.

Greek salad is consumed as an independent dish and combined with meat, fish, and side dishes. There are many recipes that we have looked at in more detail. Choose the option you like and start cooking. Experiment with vegetables and seasonings.

Video: recipe for classic Greek salad

Traditional Greek cuisine is very lively and light, full of freshness and Mediterranean flavors. Its roots include sharing meals with friends, obligatory family dinners and a low-pressure, simple manner. All this can be felt in the real pearl of Greek cuisine, its unique calling card - the Greek salad. The Greek preference for fresh produce, which thrives in the dry climate of the Greek islands with “340 suns” a year, is fully embodied in the country salad, Horiatiki in Greek, which ranks first in popularity in Mediterranean restaurants. And how could it be otherwise?

Juicy sweet tomatoes, plump seductive olives, lemons, wild greens, shiny zucchini and a variety of peppers, and, of course, the best vegetable oil in the world - olive. Separately, cheeses are among the priorities of real Greeks: various types of feta cheese, soft, mild cheese like ricotta, and, of course, salty feta - sheep or goat cheese, used in a variety of local salads. Unusual aromas are also achieved by using rosemary, parsley, coriander, basil, oregano and mint.

The Greek salad itself has many recipes that have been adopted by many countries around the world, but several components remain unchanged - cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and cheese, which are cut into large pieces. Among other things, this is also a very healthy salad. If we consider its composition from a medical point of view, we can write an entire dissertation on its benefits and effects on health. It is enough to note that the obligatory elements - green salad and olive oil contain a large amount of folic acid, which contributes to the production of happiness hormones - endorphins - in the body. So, today we are preparing a Greek salad, and we are guaranteed a great mood.

Greek salad - food preparation

The most important thing is that the products are fresh. And not just fresh, but very fresh, ideally just picked from the garden. In winter, the vegetable garden is replaced by a greenhouse. A real Greek salad is dressed only with the best olive oil. In some salads, the cheese is not cut into pieces, but served in a large piece in the center of a portioned salad bowl, sprinkled with dressing.

Greek salad - the best recipes

Recipe 1: Classic Greek Salad

The classic salad recipe uses combinations of vegetables and seasonings very skillfully. In this case we choose oregano and ground pepper. Have you tried this salad many times, but still don’t know how it’s prepared? Then this recipe is especially for you!

Ingredients: cucumbers (3 pcs), tomatoes (3 pcs), Feta cheese (200 g), red meaty pepper, large red onion, olives (1 can), dry oregano, ground pepper, salt.

Cooking method

We cut the washed cucumbers and tomatoes into large slices, cut the pepper into long strips. The red onion is cut into rings. We also cut the olives into rings, leaving only a few whole pieces for decoration. In a beautiful transparent salad bowl, lay out the vegetables in layers, place small cubes of cheese on top, do not mix. Whole olives will look great on top of a salad, pour olive oil over everything, sprinkle with lemon juice - and on the table! We add salt last so that the vegetables do not lose their juice prematurely. Feta cheese itself is salty, so be careful when adding salt.

Recipe 2: Greek salad in pita bread

Are you planning a light buffet? Salad in pita bread is something that will help you feel light and free, even moving around the room. Just wrap the salad prepared in a special way in small pieces of pita bread, and the original appetizer is ready.

Ingredients: Thin pita bread (2 pcs), young garlic (2 cloves), pitted olives (200 g), olive oil (50 ml), small cucumbers (4 pcs), feta cheese (200 g), bell pepper, tomatoes (4 pcs), lettuce, lemon juice.

Cooking method

Chop the ingredients. Cut the tomatoes and cucumbers into cubes, peel and chop the garlic, cut the olives in half. Feta is cut into cubes, and it is best to tear the salad by hand, after rinsing and drying.

In a separate bowl, mix the filling - olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice. We put tomatoes, olives, cucumbers and lettuce there. Mix gently but thoroughly.

Divide the lavash into 4 parts. We lay it out and put a few spoons of lettuce on each part and roll it into a tube. A great snack, convenient and delicious. Eat quickly so that the pita bread does not get soggy.

Recipe 3: Original Greek Chicken Salad

In most recipes, Greek salad is a light snack of fresh vegetables that is perfectly accepted by the body and serves as an additional dish. Let's try to "weight" it by adding meat, fried with onions. Otherwise, its ingredients remain unchanged, except that the structure will be slightly different - we will form the salad in layers. Without a doubt, this salad will be appreciated by men - meat eaters who love to snack on any meat...meat. In terms of nutritional value, it is not inferior to everyone’s favorite “Olivier”, and it is designed much more interestingly.

Ingredients: Minced chicken (300-400 grams), tomatoes (4 pcs), onions (1 pc), pickled pepper (3 pcs), black pitted olives, sour cream 150 g, yogurt (200 g), cucumber, dill, garlic, pepper .

Cooking method

Fry the minced meat with the addition of garlic. In order to feel connected to Greece, we will use the national seasoning. Cool the minced meat and put it in a salad bowl - the first layer is ready. Mix onion, cut into rings, with a small amount of pepper marinade and salt - this will be our second layer. Next comes the hot pickled pepper, which is cut into cubes and laid out on top of the onion. Next come finely chopped tomatoes. It is important not to over-moisten our salad, so we remove the seeds from the tomatoes to remove excess juice. Slice the olives and place them on top of the tomatoes. Pour over the sauce: mix yogurt with sour cream and add herbs and cucumber. Decorate the salad with colorful vegetables and olives and put it in the refrigerator to soak. This is a very beautiful and nutritious salad, you can almost have a full dinner with it. You will be surprised how chicken harmonizes with olives and vegetables.

Recipe 4: Greek beet salad - the basis of the Mediterranean diet

The Greeks' popular love for gatherings is accompanied by an abundance of salads on the table. Moreover, mayonnaise or any other heavy salads are not accepted; Greek housewives prefer light vegetables, natural, healthy and quick to prepare. Such as, for example, this simple beet salad, the basis of the most correct Mediterranean diet.

Ingredients: beets, always with tops (1 kilogram), lemon juice, olive oil, salt.

Cooking method

We cut off the tops and cook the beets on the fire without peeling them. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, place the tops in the pan, everything is used - both cuttings and leaves. Drain the water, chop the tops coarsely and place them in a shallow dish. Place beets on top in the form of slices or circles. Oil and vinegar are mixed with salt, the resulting dressing is poured over the vegetables. Eat and lose weight for health!