Greek Salad: This Colourful, Classic Salad Has All Our Heart

This vegetable salad is a low-calorie dish, rich in vitamins A and C. It also contains the necessary amounts of iron and potassium as well as antioxidants. This keeps the belly fat in check too. The olive oil adds the goodness of healthy fat. Eat it with bread as a side and your wholesome dinner is done.

Often, those eating salads are met with a look of pity and suffering, but salads can be just as filling as another main course. 

History of Greek Salad:

It was the Romans and Greeks who first made salads. The salad comes from the word Salata which literally means salted. Nowadays, this salad is a rage among health enthusiasts. It is easy and quick to prepare, a relief in these fast-paced times.

The Greek salad originated in Greece as a farmer's dish. It was something a penurious farmer could whip up a meal with, straight from his garden. During the 1970s at the height of the tourist boom in Greece, the local restaurant owners started calling it Horiatiki (“Greek”) salad, to market it as a local and original “rustic” salad. 

The most defining features of this salad are the tomatoes, kalamata olives and feta cheese. The last two ingredients are exclusively Greek and were found only in Greece. Lettuce was absent.

The feta cheese used especially in this dish is made of sheep milk and is tangy in taste. Its bright whiteness adds a beautiful hue to the salad.

Kalamata olives are commonly used in Greek food because they are salty and pair well with feta cheese. As for tomatoes, one can go for cherry tomatoes because they release less water into the salad. De-seed the cucumbers to avoid making a watery salad. 

Last but not the least, Greek salad is served in a shallow bowl; do not serve it in a deep bowl. Let's look at the ingredients now.

Ingredients:

1 large Cucumber

1 large Tomato

3 spring Onions

Salt to taste

Fresh Oregano

Lettuce can be added (not originally used in Greek salad)

2-3 tbsps extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tsp white Vinegar

12-16 pickled Black Olives

100 gms Feta Cheese

Method

Break the cucumber into two pieces, halve them vertically, remove seeds, cut into thick strips and roughly cut them into small cubes

Roughly cut the tomatoes into small cubes. Diagonally slice spring onions

Roughly tear the lettuce leaves and put them into a large mixing bowl. Add tomato, cucumber and spring onions. Add salt and crushed black peppercorns

Add extra virgin olive oil and vinegar and mix lightly

Put the salad in a serving bowl and place black olives on top. Break feta cheese and put on top and serve immediately

This salad is full of protein and is a healthy diet option.