Try this Mediterranean Diet meze. Greek salad is a healthy combo of tomatoes, feta, Kalamata olives, oregano, olive oil, onions, peppers, and more. You can add capers and pickled or hot peppers to it, but don't add lettuce, ever! You can also add any fresh herbs, such as basil, marjoram, savory, or parsley. 6 SERVINGS for Greek Salad 4 medium firm, ripe tomatoes 1 medium cucumber 1 medium red onion 1-2 bell or long peppers, seeded and cut into rings Salt to taste on Greek Salad 3 - 4 oz. Greek feta, crumbled or sliced 1 tsp. dried Greek oregano 3 tablespoons extra virgin Greek olive oil Great Greek Salad 1. Wash, core and cut the tomatoes into wedges. Place in serving bowl. 2. Wash, peel, and slice cucumbers into ½-inch rounds. Place in bowl with tomatoes. 3. Peel onions, cut in half and then into 1/8 -- inch slices. Place in bowl. If using peppers, add to the salad. * 4. Season lightly with salt. Place feta on top. Sprinkle with oregano and dress with extra virgin Greek olive oil. Serve. Best Greek Salad and Mediterranean diet * Optional: You can also, of course, add a few (6) Greek olives, preferably Kalamata. Per Serving, with olives : 164 Calories; 12g Fat (64.0% calories from fat); 4g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 17mg Cholesterol; 458mg Sodium. That's it for your Greek Salad & Mediterranean diet. A WORD ON GREEK SALADS The term salad in Greek cuisine is a confusing one to most foreigners mainly because of its loose interpretation. Greeks call many different types of dishes «salads». On the meze table, for example, where a meal is comprised of a handful and more small plates, usually accompanied by ouzo or wine, preparations such as mashed roasted eggplant (melitzanosalata), whipped fish roe (taramosalata), yogurt, garlic and cucumber (tzatziki) are all considered salads, perhaps because they are served cold. There are warm salads in the Greek kitchen, as well, such as boiled greens (horta), served at room temperature or chilled, and dressed with lemon juice or vinegar, salt and olive oil. Many bean salads are also served warm, but also at room temperature. Of course the classic salad is what has come to be known as the Village Salad (horiatiki) or as diners and Greek restaurants all over the globe refer to it, simply as «Greek Salad». It is a familiar site—ripe tomatoes, olives (usually Kalamata), raw onions, peppers, cucumbers and herbs such as dried oregano or thyme. Most of the times a wedge of feta sits on top of the classic Greek salad, too. But it is certainly not the only salad on the meze table. Greeks eat all sorts of vegetables, pulses, grains, even fish and meat as salads. The term is loosely defined. A salad can be anything from a simple mixture of leafy greens with a basic drizzling of olive oil, to boiled vegetables served at room temperature with olive oil and lemon juice, to hearty, complex fare that might combine many ingredients and be as filling as a main course. Salads meant for the meze table, though, are usually more playful and dynamic. Horta—simple boiled greens—for example, are rarely served up as part of a meze spread. Rather they are enjoyed as a side dish for more substantial fare, such as grilled fish or main-course meat preparations. Another ingredient in the repertory of salads that might be new to American cooks are the rusks—slowly baked hard tack, in other words—that give substance to salads and are one of the most healthful and traditional ingredients in Greece. Rusks come in many shapes and are made from many different grains. In Ikaria, where my family comes from, the local bakers make simple wheat-flour rusks from the same dough that the daily loaves are made with. In the southeastern Aegean, the rusks are more fanciful, usually the color of cocoa from the combination of barley and wheat flours, and flavored with anise seeds or cumin seeds. Crete, by far, holds the reign on rusk making, and most of what is available in the United States comes from large bakeries on the island. In Greek and Middle Eastern food shops across America, and in some specialty gourmet shops, you can find barley rusks in several shapes: usually round and split like flat hard buns; shaped like thick slices of bread; or cut into smaller bite-size pieces called boukies. You can also find rusks made with chick pea flour and with rye flour. A salad is only as good as its seasoning, and so much flavor in the Greek salad bowl comes from the excellent quality of the country's wild herbs. Herbs are savored for their medicinal as well as for their aromatic qualities in Greece. The two most popular Greek herbs are without doubt oregano and mint. Greek oregano is highly aromatic, and is usually savored dried, whereas mint most often is used fresh in the Greek kitchen. They have an intensity of flavor that derives from the bright, arid climate and they make all sorts of dishes sparkle.

Added: June 22, 2008 - Duration: 01:12
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