Greek salad is quite simple to prepare, but there are some secrets that make it particularly tasty. Let's try to learn them and put into practice.
Greek salad belongs to European cuisine and is a favorite dish of many people. It is explained very simply: at any time of the year it pleases with freshness and bright colors, rather low-calorie, easy to prepare.
Greek Salad: classic recipe with cheese
Classics of the genre in the preparation of such a salad is soft feta cheese, but in many well-known restaurants, and at home, more cheese is used. The difference is that feta with its most delicate structure and spruce with noticeable acidity perfectly emphasizes the freshness of vegetables used in the salad. Brynza, on the other hand, gives a familiar dish a new, interesting flavor that will surely delight gourmets.
You can experiment with tomatoes too. Many classic recipes are prescribed to take cherry tomatoes, but small-sized fruits of tomatoes with dense pulp can be an alternative.
So, for the classic Greek salad with cheese you will need the following products:
- lettuce ─ 50 grams;
- tomatoes ─ 150 grams;
- cucumbers ─ 150 grams;
- White cheese - 150 grams;
- pepper salad (preferably multi-colored) ─ 150 grams;
- sweet onion (or shallot) ─ 75 grams;
- green olives (pitted) ─ 100 grams.
Refueling:
- 75 ml of extra virgin olive oil;
- 50 ml of balsamic vinegar;
- salt and pepper each adds in the right quantity.
Cooking will take about twenty minutes, from this set of products you can feed a salad of three or four people.
Calorie content (per 100 g of the finished dish) is approximately 120 Kcal.
First you need to thoroughly wash and dry the used vegetables and lettuce leaves.
Cutting components in this dish is special ─ large cubes. Lettuce leaves simply tear hands straight into the pot, where the dish will be refilled.
Cheese cut and add to the salad. With olives pour the liquid and also put in a bowl.
Cherry tomatoes are cut into quarters, if other tomatoes are used, then each half should be divided into six or eight parts (it all depends on the size of the tomato itself). Cucumbers, too, cut into large pieces and send to a common pot.
Multicolored sweet peppers are first freed from the seeds and stem, cut into wide strips, and then turn them into cubes. Onion cut into thin half rings.
For dressing, combine olive oil with balsamic vinegar and desired spices. The resulting mixture is thoroughly mixed, you can even beat slightly.
To fill the Greek salad with cheese should certainly be just before serving.
Photo of classic Greek salad with cheese and cherry tomatoes
Other successful dish variations
Greek salad is often prepared with the addition of chicken meat, it makes the dish more satisfying. You can experiment as well with dressing: pomegranate juice will outperform the usual taste quite piquantly. You can add a variety of vegetables to the classic recipe, but only raw.
Greek salad with chicken
We will need the following products:
- 400 g boiled chicken fillet;
- 2-3 medium sized tomatoes;
- 2-3 cucumbers;
- 200 g of feta cheese;
- 150 g pitted olives;
- 50 grams of salad onions;
- 1 sweet pepper.
For refueling we take:
- 50 g of olive oil;
- 2 tbsp. spoons of vinegar or lemon juice;
- spice.
The cooking procedure will last 20 minutes, plus the time for boiling the fillet. 100g of finished salad will contain 245 Kcal.
First of all, it is necessary to boil chicken meat. Fillet will be the most suitable option. Finished meat cut into small cubes. Vegetables washed and dried with a paper towel. Tomatoes are cut in half, and then into large cubes.
Cucumbers ─ thin circles. Onion ─ half rings. We remove the seeds and the stem from the pepper and also cut them into half rings. Fetu ─ large cubes. All components of the dishes are put in a deep pot.
For filling mix all the ingredients. We fill and mix with light movements.
Cooking a dish with pomegranate juice dressing
Take a standard set of products for the preparation of this dish:
- leaf salad ─ 50 grams;
- fresh tomatoes ─ 150 grams;
- fresh cucumbers - 150 grams;
- sweet pepper (colorful) ─ 150 grams;
- salad onions - 75 grams;
- green olives ─ 100 grams.
But for refueling we need:
- olive oil ─ 50 g;
- natural pomegranate juice ─ 1 tbsp. spoon;
- spice.
Any housewife can cook such a dish no longer than 20 minutes, 120 Kcal will not harm the figure.
Wash and dry the vegetables. We form large cubes of them with a knife, tear the salad with our hands.
This dressing will change the taste of the dish a bit, add some exotic. And the color will change a bit. Greek salad in this interpretation will appeal to many gourmets.
Useful tips
- For the preparation of this dish it is worth choosing tomatoes with dense pulp, otherwise they will crawl in the process of mixing the salad.
- Cucumbers buy young, without damaging the skin.
- Lettuce leaves must be elastic, otherwise they will not be pleasant to crunch in a dish.
- You should not use ordinary onions, its sharpness will spoil the softness of the salad.
- Take pitted olives and olives, they will look more attractive.
- Take extra virgin olive oil for refill! Only with this spin all useful and therapeutic substances are saved.
- Use only wine or balsamic vinegar.
And let your Greek salad be a joy to all those who treat themselves to them!
In the next story - a video recipe, how to cook a classic Greek salad.
