My Favorite Greek Salad

A deliciously non-traditional Greek Salad with salami, red onions, Kalamata olives, and feta cheese, tossed in a fresh, tangy Greek salad dressing. A great choice for lunch, brunch, or dinner with warm, crusty bread and a glass of wine.

At least once a year, I start getting an uncontrollable urge. It’s the urge to purge and clean. Especially in my kitchen!

When we start getting near the end of the cold winter months, any little hint of bright sunshine puts me in the mood to organize stuff, straighten out cabinets, purge the pantry, and deep clean my kitchen!

All it takes is one day of temperatures anywhere near 60 degrees, and that’s all the push I need. We’ve just had one of those days here :-)

People call me a “foodie.” If that means “someone who really enjoys food and cooking,” then I suppose they’re right. I spend hours on end cooking things to share with all of you. And all that cooking takes a toll on my kitchen because I’m just not the neatest cook.

Those people who can “clean as they go” have my admiration. I’m not among their number.

My floors get messy. My cabinets get out of order. And my countertops get floury, buttery, sticky, and wet.

So, after a long day of making a mess cooking, I moved everything off my countertops and went to work. I cleaned the granite surfaces, polished the stainless steel, and wiped down the glass front cabinets.

I was so pleased with myself that I immediately started messing up the kitchen cooking again to make our favorite Greek salad for dinner.

Now, I know that you’re going to read the list of ingredients and see “salami.” And you’re going to say, “there’s no salami in a Greek salad!”

Well, if I’m going to serve BeeBop a salad for his main course, there’s going to be some kind of meat included. Substitute whatever you like or leave it out completely. Your choice!

And be sure to try my Greek salad dressing recipe that’s included. It’s a lovely, balanced dressing that perfectly compliments the ingredients in the salad. All you really need with this salad is some warm, crusty bread, and a lovely glass of wine.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• It’s light and fresh
• The preparation is easy and quick
• It’s really two recipes in one (both the salad and the dressing)
• It’s hearty enough for lunch or dinner (just add bread and wine)

Ingredients You’ll Need

For the dressing:

• Olive oil (use a good quality extra virgin olive oil)
• Lemon (the juice only)
• Red wine vinegar (don’t go cheap on the vinegar; a good one makes all the difference)
• Garlic (crushed, minced, or grated)
• Oregano (dried Italian oregano)
• Salt and pepper

For the salad:

• Romaine lettuce (save time and buy the washed, bagged kind)
• Roma (plum) tomatoes (Roma tomatoes have the best flavor all year round; choose nice firm, ripe ones)
• Cucumber (I prefer English cucumbers; they have fewer seeds and are rarely bitter)
• Red onion
• Kalamata olives (Mezzetta is a good brand to choose)
• Feta cheese (I always reach for the Athenos brand, but there are many good brands)
• Pepperoncini (again, Mezzetta always gets my vote)
• Salami (I prefer Genoa salami, however hard salami also work, or even ham if you’d rather)

How to Make My Favorite Greek Salad

Make the Greek Salad Dressing

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano, salt, and pepper in a small jar. Shake until well blended. Set it aside for now.

Tip: Instead of mincing or chopping the garlic, trying grating it on a fine grater. It’s so much easier!

Prep the Veggies and Salami

I used the pre-prepped Romaine lettuce from the grocery store as a shortcut. If you’re using fresh, you’ll need to wash, dry, and cut the Romaine into bite-sized pieces.

Dice the tomatoes, and peel and dice the cucumber. (Note: I recommend using an English cucumber for this salad. They have fewer seeds and rarely have a bitter taste.

Slice the red onion into very thin, half-moon shapes and cut the Kalamata olives in half. (Tip: to mellow the red onions and remove some of the harshness, rinse them briefly after slicing. Dry thoroughly before adding to the salad.)

For the salami, I ask my deli to give me two slices about 1/2-inch thick (that’s usually a total of about 8 ounces), and then I cut those into cubes myself. I prefer the meatiness of the thicker cubes over thin slices in this salad.

Dress the Salad

Place all the salad ingredients in a large bowl.

Shake the dressing again and pour over as much as you’d like to coat the salad. Toss to combine.

This salad serves 2 as a main course, 4-6 as a side or starter.

Tips

• Instead of mincing or chopping the garlic, trying grating it on a fine grater. It’s so much easier!
• I recommend using an English cucumber for this salad. They have fewer seeds and rarely have a bitter taste.
• To mellow the red onions and remove some of the harshness, rinse them briefly after slicing. Dry thoroughly before adding to the salad.
• Ask your deli for two slices of salami about 1/2-inch thick (that’s usually a total of about 8 ounces), and then I cut those into cubes.

🧾 More Recipes You’ll Like

• Winter Shrimp Salad
• Classic Macaroni Salad
• Tomato and Avocado Salad
• Black Bean and Corn Salad
• Cannellini Bean and Tuna Salad

Recipe

— This post was originally published on March 6, 2014.