Greek Salad...the real way!

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I decided to post a recipe of one of my favorite dishes, Greek Salad. After traveling through Greece for two weeks in May of 2009, I am not exaggerating when I say I ate this dish everyday, sometimes twice a day.  This colorful and tasty dish is a fabulous example of the Mediterranean Diet.  It consists mostly of chopped vegetables, herbs, a dash of olive oil and feta cheese. This version (the authentic way) includes no lettuce! I will give you the basic recipe and then some suggestions that you can personalize to your own tastes.This recipe usually acts as a side dish, but is good enough to enjoy on it's own when paired with a piece of crusty bread.

Ingredients:
5 ripe tomatoes
1 cucumber
1/4 of a red onion
A handful of Kalamata olives
2 tbs Olive oil
Dash of sea salt
Pepper
1 tsb of dried oregano

Directions:
Roughly quarter the tomatoes and cucumber, and combine in a bowl with the sliced red onion.  Toss in the olives. Pour in about two tablespoons of good quality extra-virgin olive oil. Toss the vegetables to coat with the olive oil. Include the sea salt, pepper (freshly ground is the best) to taste along with the dried oregano. Because the oregano is dried, rub the oregano in your palm to release the oils in the leaves and bring out the herb's flavor. Again toss the ingredients in a bowl to coat the vegetables. Lastly, the traditional way to serve this dish is with a sliced piece of feta right off the block and laid atop the salad. If you prefer, you can crumble the feta cheese. The beauty of this recipe is that you cannot screw it up and allows new cooks to practice their knife skills. 

This dish really is just that easy! This is a basic recipe I came up with after eating it for almost two weeks straight. Feel free to add sliced bell peppers, capers, different varieties of olives, or sliced strawberries for a sweet twist. If you come up with any other suggestions to add to the salad, please leave a comment!