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Dad's Greek Salad

Dad's Greek Salad

I'm on vacation this week, so am pulling forward a few recipes from the archives that we've recently updated. This gorgeous Greek salad is one of them, originally posted in 2005. So pretty, isn't it? And perfect for the hot weather. ~Elise

This Greek salad is a favorite of my father's to make during the summer. We usually have plenty of tomatoes and cucumbers growing in the garden, and all you have to do is toss in some red onions, olives, bell pepper, feta cheese, a few herbs, and some olive oil and vinegar and you have beautiful, cooling, fresh, Greek salad.

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Dad's Greek Salad Recipe

  • Prep time: 15 minutes

Tip from my mom: to take some of the bite away from the onions, after you chop them, soak them in a little vinegar or lemon juice.

Ingredients

  • 6 Tbsp olive oil
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
  • 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dill weed
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 large plum tomatoes, seeded, coarsely chopped
  • 3/4 cucumber, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 red onion, peeled, chopped
  • 1 bell pepper, seeded, coarsely chopped
  • 1/2 cup pitted black olives (preferably brine-cured), coarsely chopped
  • A heaping half cup crumbled feta cheese

Method

1 Whisk the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, vinegar, oregano and dill weed together until blended. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper. (Can be prepared 3 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewhisk before using.)

2 Combine the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, bell pepper, olives in a bowl. Toss with dressing. Sprinkle cheese over and serve.

Yield: Serves 6.

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19 Comments

Thanks Elise. I've made your Dad's Greek salad twice this week already. It may be the perfect food. The next time we have guests I'm adding the grilled fish, crusty bread and wine.

Posted by: jim hoffman on August 27, 2005 6:45 PM

I just made this tonight, substituting raw zucchini for the cucumber, and it was great. Pleasantly spicy with the raw garlic. An all-around hit and perfect summer late-night dinner.

Posted by: Lady Amalthea on August 27, 2005 10:07 PM

Hey, I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was fantastic! This is my version.

http://noshesthoughtsreves.blogspot.com/2005/09/salade-grecque.html

Posted by: Lady Amalthea on September 10, 2005 12:12 PM

Fantastic salad. One of the best Greek salad recipes I've come across. I just doubled the red wine vinegar amount to give a little extra zest. Love it.

Posted by: Janice Khyati on August 16, 2007 1:36 PM

Greek salads are one of my favorites!

Based on my favorite restaurant recipe, I add boiled shrimp, capers, pepperoncini, fresh squeezed lemon juice & the bottom part of the green onions.

Posted by: J Smith on November 23, 2008 7:56 PM

I made this recently and I love this dressing- is there any way to pre-make a batch of this and keep it in the fridge or will it spoil?

It will keep for a while in the fridge. ~Elise

Posted by: anna on November 29, 2008 12:34 AM

This is almost identical to the Greek Village Salad in "The Olive and the Caper" by Susanna Hoffman -- one of my favorite Greek cookbooks.

Posted by: Sally on April 30, 2009 6:32 AM

Love, love, love the flavors in this salad! Fresh, healthy and delicious. I think it makes enough dressing to almost double the veggies though. I already have everything in my fridge to make this again this week.

Posted by: Rebecca on July 5, 2009 5:17 PM

Nice and interesting variation of the Greek salad, my dad liked it too!
For I am Greek, I need to say that the original one is much simplier. It is a "rustic" salad where you add what you have! Basically, tomatoes, onions, olives, feta, oregano, olive oil & addittionally, cucumber and caper.
Tasty advice: after you cut the onions, rinse them with a bit of vinegar. It takes away the "heat".

My mom does the same thing! Thanks for the reminder, I've added it to the notes. ~Elise

Posted by: Marousopoulou Maria on January 25, 2010 12:14 AM

Fantastic salad. The only change I made was to slice 1 whole small red onion 1/4" thick and put it straight into the olive oil mixture. Will be slightly saturated, cut the heat and nice texture. Enjoy!

Posted by: Irene on May 5, 2010 8:25 AM

This is just about right. Lived in Athens 5 years and learned from the guy who made daily lunch salads on Vas. Sophisas - delicious !
Used cheap red apple vinegar (I couldn't believe it!) and good olive oil - the rest is the same except for juicy, plump tomatoes as only the Mediterranean grows them. Enjoy !

Posted by: Ray on May 12, 2010 12:18 PM

Good Morning Elise,
Thank you for your article regarding cherry tomatoes (I laughed because I am the same kind of gardener as you :) and for providing this recipe for your Dad's greek salad. Yummm :) I think we could be great friends. :)

Posted by: Shannen on July 3, 2011 10:42 AM

Being Greek, I have to agree with Marousopoulou Maria, the original recipie is much simplier but your version has is all!

Posted by: Elpiniki on August 2, 2011 12:40 AM

You had me at Greek! Gerald Durrell's book My Family and Other Animals is one of our faves. I will be following Jim Hoffman's advice (commentor number one) and adding fish and crusty bread.

xoxo michele

Posted by: Michele on August 2, 2011 3:27 AM

Looks absolutely DIVINE. One thing I find over an over is people refrigerating their tomatoes . If you must make this ahead to the point you need to chill it - add the tomatoes as you are heading to the table - it changes the whole salad.

Posted by: marybeth on August 2, 2011 11:48 AM

I love Greek salad--thanks for sharing the recipe!

Question--does the red wine vinegar color the cucumbers, or is the amount too small to matter?

I didn't notice a discoloration. ~Elise

Posted by: terri on August 3, 2011 2:00 PM

We made this last night and it was wonderful. Thanks for the tip about the red onions. I used some lemon juice to soak the onions and they were sweet with just the right amount of bite. Nice summer dinner.

Posted by: Don Ugent on August 4, 2011 5:02 AM

We love this.. My honey's best friend growing up was Lebanese and they made a salad like this just about every day.. I've learned to love it myself. Its so beautiful & so tasty!

Posted by: KimH on August 4, 2011 5:08 PM

I'd like to ask you that if I didn't add the red wine vinegar would it taste different or there is a substitution for it ?.

Yes it would taste different. You could use cider vinegar, white wine vinegar, or even diluted lemon juice. They would all taste a little different. ~Elise

Posted by: Amna on August 30, 2011 10:31 AM

I apologize for the inconvenience, comments are closed. ~Elise

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