How to cut vegetables in Greek. Greek salad - recipes, history and traditions of cooking a Mediterranean dish

1.Rinse all vegetables thoroughly under running water. Then lay them out on a towel to dry. Take a suitable bowl for this dish (deep enough) and tear the lettuce leaves into it. Since all the ingredients in this salad should be coarsely chopped, do not chop them too much.

2. Now peel off the husk and cut the onion into thin half rings. Choose sweet varieties so they don't get too bitter in the salad. Add half rings to the rest of the ingredients.

3. Pepper for this dish you need to choose fleshy and very juicy. So your salad will be much tastier. Remove the seeds from the pepper. Cut the clean fleshy part into medium strips. Place the pepper in a bowl.

4. Cucumber needs to be cut large pieces, one and a half to two centimeters wide. To do this, cut the cucumber into two parts, and then each part into more halves, which will need to be cut into “cubes”. Throw them in a bowl.

5. Tomatoes also do not need to be chopped too much. If you chose small tomatoes, then cut them into four parts, but if you have large ones, then cut into eight parts. Also add them to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients.

6. Olives in a Greek salad should be put pitted, so it is advisable to buy just such. When you take them out of the jar, then wait, let them dry a little, and only then throw them into a bowl.

7. Now the salad can be seasoned. Pour a few spoonfuls into a bowl olive oil and mix all the ingredients.

8. The final touch in cooking will be the addition of feta cheese. If you have a whole piece, then take it out of the package in advance so that there is a little glass of whey. Then cut it into cubes and add to the salad. Instead of feta, you can use tofu (which is especially important on fasting days). Stir everything again, taste and, if necessary, salt.

Delicious and bright Greek salad is ready. If you prepared it for the festive table, then transfer it to beautiful dish and serve. If not, then pour it into a plate and eat immediately. Enjoy your meal!

Generous Greece willingly shares its unique recipes with the world. No one will be surprised by the variety of cheeses traditional for this country, sea cocktails and many meat dishes. In addition, the national cuisine is very organically combined various salads. Horiatiki is rightfully considered the most famous - rustic salad, which became famous all over the world under the name "Greek". The simplicity and availability of ingredients, excellent taste and nutrition at a relatively low calorie content, coupled with an unusually appetizing appearance - all this guaranteed success.

How to make Greek Salad traditional recipe and how you can replace some of the components our article will tell you.

As often happens, this ingenious dish "came from the people", so the authorship is not known for certain. At certain stages, new ingredients were added to the dish, thanks to which its taste was modified and saturated. So, for example, it happened after the appearance of tomatoes, which were brought into the country no earlier than the 19th century.

Now a classic Greek salad is not complete without this vegetable. In addition to the tomato, other ingredients should be mandatory in the salad, some of them are typically "Greek" products.

Today it is safe to say that best traditions Greek cuisine, coupled with the gifts of the fertile land, are collected in this surprisingly simple and delicious dish.

Greek Salad Ingredients:

Vegetables: tomatoes, cucumbers, Bulgarian Bell pepper, onion (preferably red);
Olives, capers;
Lots of greens: parsley, oregano, lettuce;
Chees Feta;
Olive oil for dressing.

The presence of cheese in a salad is somewhat unusual combination, but it is this ingredient that gives an exceptional taste and aroma to the finished dish.

Important nuance: greens and vegetables for salad should be cut into fairly large pieces.

It is this carelessness that creates the special charm of a typical "village" recipe. An attractive look is also achieved through a variety of shades and shapes. AT Greek restaurants and cafe this dish is served with pieces of toasted white bread, which will be doubly tastier if dipped in a salad bowl.

Classic Greek salad recipe

It doesn’t take much time to prepare, it’s not for nothing that this dish was popular with peasants, whose daily work did not encourage long pastime in the kitchen. To make a salad classic recipe it is necessary to pick up and grind all the ingredients, and for dressing do not spare greens and olive oil.

Medium-sized tomatoes - 4 pieces;
One small cucumber;
One medium onion, preferably red, "sweet" variety;
Bulgarian pepper, depending on the size 1-5 pieces;
Olives - about 20 pieces;
Pickled capers - 2 teaspoons;
Feta cheese - 200 grams;
Dried oregano - 1 tsp;
Olive oil - 3 tbsp. l.;
Salt to taste.

Wash the salad vegetables well, cut the tomatoes into slices, slice the cucumber, onion and pepper into half rings. Add olives, capers and seasoning, salt and season with olive oil. Traditionally, cheese is laid out on top with wide slices.

In European cuisine, cheese is cut into cubes and mixed with vegetables.

Greek Salad Ideas and Recipes

As always happens, in original form recipes are not always used, most often they are supplemented and modified, adapting to your tastes and looking for new combinations. European chefs have created many recipes based on Greek salad. The main ingredients - cheese and dressing - have undergone many metamorphoses, now almost every restaurant serves its own version of this dish.

A few ideas to diversify the traditional recipe:

The use of cherry tomatoes will give the dish greater aesthetics. Very small specimens can be put whole, used for decoration and simply laid out in an “artistic mess” on a dish.
Lettuce leaves will also very organically fit into the overall taste of the salad. A small recommendation: it is better not to cut this ingredient with a knife, but to tear it coarsely with your hands, so it will last longer useful substances, and slight negligence will be quite in the spirit of this recipe.
Salad dressing is best prepared separately and mixed with the main ingredients just before serving. Thus, the vegetables do not drain and do not lose their attractive appearance.
Figured cutting of vegetables will make the dish more colorful and original. You can use a vegetable cutter, special nozzles and just show your imagination and do something unusual.

Such tricks will help surprise guests and family, creating a mysterious and very unusual dish. The advantage of this salad will be its absolute versatility.. It is traditionally prepared in the summer, during the season of fresh vegetables. On the other hand, now you can purchase all the components all year round, so even for New Year's table such a miracle would be very appropriate.

Recipe with feta cheese

Feta goat cheese has a slightly crumbly texture and a salty taste. Now in supermarkets you can freely buy this product, it is usually sold in metal or plastic container and stored in brine. Grinding such cheese is a rather difficult task, it practically crumbles in the hands, you can only get neat cuts with a special knife.

Feta cheese can be used in other recipes, it harmoniously complements many products, making them taste brighter. Despite the rather high calorie content of cheese, the dish itself turns out to be dietary.

The recipe for Greek salad with feta cheese is also very healthy due to the high content of vegetables.

In Greece itself, cheese is not mixed with the rest of the ingredients, but simply laid out on top as a decoration and main snack. Modified recipes call for chopping up feta and pairing it with vegetables and olives. At the same time, the juice itself, which was obtained from such a combination, is very important. In no case should it be poured out, it is better to soak it with a piece of bread and try it excellent combination to taste.

Cheese recipe

Most often you can find such an interpretation of the classic recipe. Feta cheese, which is a little unusual for us, can be replaced with cheese that is closest to its taste. To do this, the cheese is squeezed a little and cut into cubes or straws, as you like more.

The Greek cheese salad recipe contains less salt, as the cheese itself is quite spicy. Its quantity is taken according to classical proportions, you can slightly adapt the recipe by adding prunes, pre-steamed and cut into pieces. Usage bell pepper different colors will make the salad even brighter and more appetizing.

The second Greek cheese closest in composition - fetax, despite its close relationship with the above-described specimen, is more common with us. Under this brand it is allowed to produce soft cheese outside of Greece, while feta is exclusively a national product. There are differences both in composition and in consistency: instead of goat milk cow is used, and the density of feta is higher.

Despite these differences, both types of cheese harmonize perfectly with vegetables and are very suitable for Greek salad.

If you were lucky enough to get exactly the original Greek feta, you can try to cook both options and resolve once and for all the dispute about best use cheese in this salad.

Greek salad dressing

If regular olive oil seems too much for you simple sauce to such gourmet dish, you can try to create different variations. Dressing for Greek salad at home should be exclusively based on olive oil (this is Greek cuisine, you can’t do without it), as well as spices traditional for this country.

The traditional composition of the dressing is concise and does not require significant costs. For the inhabitants of Greece, olive oil is something so familiar that any dish is unthinkable without it. Olive oil came to us not so long ago, but it has already firmly won a place on the kitchen shelves.

Olive oil - 4-5 tbsp. l.;
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l.;
Black ground pepper- 1 gram;
Salt to taste.

Can be used as an acid regular vinegar, but it is advisable to take a more “interesting” option: apple, wine or balsamic. This will create the necessary acidic environment, which is just an excellent seasoning for salty cheese and vegetables.

For a unique sweet and sour taste, you can add a little brown sugar. Usually it is better to adhere to such proportions: for 1 tbsp. l. vinegar take 1 tsp. Sahara. It must first be dissolved so that the grains do not come across in the salad.

Adapted version

Olive oil 2 parts;
Vinegar - 1 part;
Pepper, salt to taste.

A little unusual taste it will turn out if you add a little real to the dressing pomegranate juice(it is better to use freshly squeezed). In addition to the flavor range, the color will change a little, but most gourmets prefer this particular type of dressing.

original pomegranate taste

Olive oil - 4-5 tbsp. l.;
Pomegranate juice - 1 tbsp. l.;
Pepper, salt to taste.

You can bring a little exotic with soy sauce. Despite some inconsistency of cultures, adherents of this sauce insist on an amazing harmony of taste. It is difficult to argue about this, if there are fans of this option, then so be it.

Olive oil - 3 tbsp. l.;
Soy sauce - 1 tbsp. l.;
Pepper, salt to taste.

For those who cannot imagine their life without traditional mayonnaise, you can try this dressing.

The only caveat: the calorie content of mayonnaise is quite high, so the dish can no longer be consumed during the diet, like its traditional recipe.

For mayonnaise lovers

Olive oil - 2 tbsp. l.;
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l.;
Mayonnaise - 2 tbsp. l.;
Liquid honey - 1 tbsp. l.;
Pepper, salt to taste.

Often, finely chopped greens and even garlic are added to the sauce for Greek salad, although the Greeks themselves have not yet clearly defined whether it is worth setting off the taste of the salad with too fragrant spices.

From the greens, parsley, oregano, dill and basil are traditionally taken. For decoration, you can use lettuce leaves, as well as sprigs of dill and parsley. The taste of the salad will be brighter if you do not use mustard, mayonnaise or vinegar, but in some recipes they are present. This, as they say, is a matter of taste, so it is always possible to modify and adjust the recipe “for yourself”.

greek salad calories

Despite the rather high fat content of cheese, salad can be safely classified as diet meals. Its calorie content according to the traditional recipe is approximately 87 kcal per 100 g. portions. At the same time, the content of vitamins and proteins necessary for the body is simply a record for a vegetable dish.

Olive oil is also allowed diet food unlike most similar products. Its absolute digestibility and high content of nutrients makes it an invaluable source of health.

Almost any cheese can be used for Greek salad, the main thing is to choose a salty taste and soft texture. If "feta" for some reason does not suit you, its analogue is brynza or Adyghe. You can often find options with ordinary hard cheese, but this is most likely a too average version.

A simple Greek salad recipe has already won a wide audience and is not in last place among similar dishes. In our country, his recipe has undergone a few changes, but basically people have already fallen in love, gradually crowding out holiday table Olivier and mimosa.

Due to the high content of vegetables and low calorie content, it is very light and perfect for dietary cuisine.

You can vary the taste of the dish various varieties cheese: feta and fetax are traditionally used, "our" version may include brynza or "Adyghe". A big advantage: experimenting with the type of cutting vegetables and serving, you can simultaneously decorate the celebration with a bright and memorable dish.

What is a real Greek salad? If you ask this question to your friends, you will not hear a single identical answer. Maybe once under this name a single recipe was hidden, but today several variants of this salad can be called classic at once. There is even a variant of Greek salad for the winter in a jar. The Greeks would choke to hear of such a thing.

So let's look at the real classic version Greek salad, and then move on to variations.

Step-by-step recipe for a classic Greek salad with a photo

The classic recipe does not contain any croutons or mayonnaise. It's pure vegetable salad with olive oil dressing.

Ingredients:

Cucumbers - 3 pieces of medium size
Tomatoes - 3 pieces of medium size
Sweet bell pepper - 2 pcs
Pitted olives - 1 can (420 g)
Green salad - 100 g
Feta, fetaxa, fetaki, sirtaki or other similar cheese
Salt, pepper - to taste

For refueling:

Olive oil unrefined - 100 ml
Small lemon - 1 piece
Basil - 1 teaspoon
Rosemary - 1/2 teaspoon
Oregano (oregano) - 1 teaspoon

Cooking:

1. Wash cucumbers, tomatoes and bell peppers and cut into large pieces.

The peculiarity of the salad is that the vegetables are cut into large pieces. They are supposed to be strung one at a time on a fork and eat, dipping in dressing

Cucumber can be peeled or left unpeeled. Don't forget to cut off the ends.

Bulgarian pepper must be cleaned of seeds and partitions. The color of the pepper does not play a special role. It's just that red and yellow are slightly sweeter than green.

We cut the tomatoes into pieces, after removing the stalks.

2. Put vegetables in one bowl and add olives to them

Olives are the same olives, only black. Green unripe fruits are called olives, and mature ones turn black and are called olives. This division exists only in our country.

We mix.

3. Put lettuce leaves on a serving plate and carefully transfer vegetables to it.

4. Cooking refueling.

Squeeze the lemon juice into a bowl (we don’t need the lemon itself anymore) and add olive oil to it.

Add rosemary, basil and oregano and mix well. The gas station is ready.

5. Gently cut the cheese into cubes.

To prevent the knife from sticking to the cheese, moisten the blade with water before each cut.

6. Put the pieces of cheese in the salad. Salt, pepper and drizzle with prepared dressing.

You don't need to stir anything anymore, otherwise the cheese will fall apart.

Salad ready. Enjoy your meal!

How to cook Greek salad with cheese and Chinese cabbage

In this recipe, we will replace feta cheese with cheese, and lettuce with Chinese cabbage. And if the replacement of cheese does not greatly affect the final look and taste of the dish, then the use of cabbage will affect quite a lot. It does not act as an element of decoration, but as an equal ingredient that turns the salad into the most dietary one.

Ingredients for 1 salad:

Leaves Chinese cabbage- 2 pcs
Cucumber - 1 pc.
Bulgarian pepper - 1 pc.
Garlic - 3 cloves
Olive oil - 50 ml
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp
A mixture of dry herbs - 1 tsp

Cooking:

1. Cut the cabbage leaves into strips about 1 cm wide.

2. We clean the Bulgarian pepper from seeds and peel and cut into thin strips.

3. We also cut the cucumber finely.

This recipe involves chopping so that several different vegetables can be placed on the fork at once.

4. Cheese cut into cubes. This cheese has a rather crumbly structure, so we will not try to preserve it and try to cut perfect cubes - it will fall apart anyway.

5. Combine all the ingredients in one bowl and add olives or black olives to them.

By the way, if the olives are black, then this does not mean that they are ripe fruits. Sometimes manufacturers take green ones and dye them black using a special chemical reaction.

6. Prepare the sauce.

To do this, mix oil with lemon juice and dry herbs. You can choose herbs according to your own taste, anyway, there is not much left of the traditional Greek salad.

Add garlic squeezed through a garlic press and mix.

7. It remains only to pour the sauce into a bowl with vegetables and mix everything well.

Dietary Greek salad is ready. Enjoy your meal!

Classic Greek salad: video recipe with fetax like in a restaurant

While we have not gone too far from the classics, I suggest you see how the creators themselves prepare it. Pay attention to how large the ingredients are cut.

Greek salad with croutons and chicken

Well, now a non-standard recipe, which, over time, nevertheless became a classic. A variant of this salad can be called Greek due to the presence of olives and pickled cheese. If croutons and chicken seem to be the main ingredients, then call it Caesar with olives. It doesn't matter. The main thing is that it is very tasty.

Ingredients:

Chicken fillet - 100 gr
Olives (pitted) - 70 gr
Half onion
Cucumbers - 2 pieces
Sweet pepper - 1 pc.
Tomatoes (medium) - 2 pcs
Lettuce leaves - 5-6 pieces
Feta cheese or feta cheese - 100 gr
Olive oil - 3 tbsp
Salt, Provencal herbs - to taste
Bread - 4-5 slices

Cooking:

1. chicken breast pre-boil for 15-20 minutes, and then cut into cubes.

You can also fry the breast, after cutting it into pieces, but then the salad will turn out to be too fatty.

2. Cooking croutons.

We cut the crusts from the bread and cut it into cubes 1-2 cm in size.

Toast the bread in a hot skillet with olive oil until golden brown(Literally 2-3 minutes).

3. Wash the lettuce well, and then dry it just as well with paper napkins. Then put them on a plate in which the salad will be served.

4. Cucumbers and tomatoes cut into cubes or slices and spread directly on lettuce leaves.

Greek salad it will turn out even more beautiful if you use purple or red onions.

And the last ingredient is sweet pepper, also cut into cubes, previously cleaned of seeds and partitions and added to the salad.

At this stage, you can salt the salad a little, but we will not mix it.

6. The next step is to add boiled and chopped chicken and olives to the salads.

7. Cheese Fetaksa (or any other similar - Feta, sirtaki, cheese) cut into cubes, put in a salad and sprinkle with crackers.

8. The last step is to sprinkle the salad with olive oil, add a pinch of dry provencal herbs or oregano.

Greek salad with chicken and croutons is ready. Enjoy your meal!

Well, I hope the article was useful for you and you found the option that you like best.

Thank you for your attention.

Publication date: 30.10.2017

As I said in my previous article, Greek salad means rustic salad. Again, in a previous article, I described in detail how it is prepared. Now, I want to show step by step how to do it right.

But this is right in the opinion of the Greeks, and in our opinion, we are doing the right thing. Therefore, do not try to do everything exactly in Greek. Do it the way you like. Choose the recipe that you like the most.

Check out the previous article. Check out this one. I hope you enjoy. Moreover, the Greek salad does not allow strong changes. Yes, a little something. But these little things it differs from different chefs.

How to cook Greek salad, step by step recipes for classic Greek salad with photos

We already know that best salad not the one that is cooked in the place where he was born. The best salad is the one you make yourself. Well, let's cook.

1. Classic Greek Feta Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

Tomatoes
cucumbers
Red onion
Olive oil
Chees Feta
Salt, pepper (optional)
oregano
Black olives (olives)
Bulgarian green pepper - several rings

Cooking:

I didn't list the quantity of each product here. You can take depending on how you like a particular product. Of course, if you cut a full cup of cucumbers and add a couple of olives to them, it will not be a Greek salad. Therefore, we act wisely. We select the ingredients so that they are approximately equal in the salad.

1. Peel the cucumber and cut into large pieces in a dish. The fact that the Greeks cut everything large, I also mentioned in a previous article. Therefore, we follow their example and cut everything large.

2. Tomatoes are also cut into large pieces. I forgot to mention that we pre-washed all the vegetables.

3. Peel the onion from the husk and cut into not very large half rings. If you have sweet onions, it's very good. Use it. Although I know that many people love the bitterness and pungency of onions in a salad.

4. From big green pepper cut a few rings into the salad.

5. Feta cheese break into large pieces. There is no feta, you can replace it with cheese or other similar cheese. Or even just some soft, beloved one.

6. Spread a few pieces of olives and sprinkle with dry oregano. Add all this to taste. We prefer pitted olives, especially to serve guests. The Greeks, on the contrary, prefer with bones, they say that they are tastier.

7. Pour all this with olive oil. Olive oil adds a special flavor to the salad. And in Greece, this is not an elite oil, everyone uses it. Again, add oil to your liking. But don't overdo it.

If desired, you can pepper a little. Salt is not worth it. Salted cheese and olives. If you like, salt the bread a little before you start toasting.

8. On the grill, frying pan, grill or anything, put a couple of slices of bread. Drizzle them with olive oil on one side, fry, sprinkle with oregano. Turn over, pour oil on the other side, fry and also sprinkle with oregano.

9. Fry until golden brown. Serve with salad.

OK it's all over Now. It remains only to put a bottle of white wine on the table, pour it into a glass and ....

Enjoy your meal!

2. Recipe for Greek salad a little bit our way

Ingredients:

lettuce leaves
Large fresh bell pepper - 1 pc.
Big fresh tomato- 1 PC.
Medium fresh cucumbers- 3 pcs.
Pitted olives - 50 g.
Medium head of onion - 1 pc.
Feta cheese - 50 g.

Refueling:

Fresh basil (can substitute 1 teaspoon dried basil)
Dried oregano - 1 tsp
Lemon juice - 2 tbsp. l.
Salt, ground black pepper to taste
Olive oil - 50 - 70 ml.

Cooking:

Let's do the dressing first.

1. Finely chop the basil and pour into a deep cup. Add oregano to it. Pour in lemon juice. Sprinkle with black pepper and a little salt. To your taste. Add olive oil and mix everything.

Our gas station is ready. Let's put it aside for now.

2. For cucumbers, cut off the tips on both sides, cut the cucumbers lengthwise into halves and cut into large half rings. We have young cucumbers, so we do not peel. If you have old, large ones, where the skin is very thick, it is better to peel it anyway. Transfer cucumbers to a deep bowl.

3. Cut the tomato in half, remove the stem and cut into large cubes. We send to cucumbers.

4. Peel the onion from the husk, cut in half and cut into thin half rings.

5. We send onions to cucumbers with tomatoes. We split it with our hands into separate strips directly above the bowl.

6. Peel the bell pepper, remove the seeds and veins and cut into large cubes. We send chopped pepper to other vegetables in a bowl.

7. Add olives to the same place. Pour everything with the dressing prepared by us, salt a little and mix everything.

8. We cut off the hard part of the stem from the leaves of the green salad and put it on a plate on which we will serve the Greek salad.

9. Put the prepared vegetable salad on the leaves of a green salad. And immediately post the most main ingredient cheese, cut into large cubes.

without acquaintance with national cuisine not a single foreign trip is spared. If we talk about sunny Hellas, then Greek salad is beyond competition. Food is prepared in every corner of the planet, both according to the traditional recipe of the classic Greek salad, and with new variations.

The article is devoted to the culinary masterpiece, which is so loved by all countries of the world. In the material, we will highlight the history of the appearance of the dish, talk about what products are included in the Greek salad and tell the secrets of local chefs. And also give a dozen delicious recipes vegetable dish, so there will be no questions left about how to properly prepare a Greek salad on your own at home.

Vegetable salads are not uncommon in our time, so it's hard to believe that many of them were invented not so long ago. So, it is generally accepted that the birthplace of the current Greek salad is Ancient Hellas. Allegedly, almost the Olympic Gods were the first to know the taste of a dish made from fresh juicy vegetables. Legends for tourists are made up everywhere, but history cannot be deceived and cannot be rewritten: the facts state that the origin of the now famous Greek salad chronologically dates back no earlier than the middle of the 19th century.

During this period, tomato consumption began in Greece: tomatoes were imported into the country only in 1818. Until that time, the Greeks did not even know about such a vegetable, and after the import, tomatoes were grown as ornamental plants - the fruits of tomatoes were considered poisonous. But already 8 years later, by 1825, the use of tomatoes for food spread everywhere. Therefore, only from this time mark could a delicious vegetable Greek salad begin to exist, in which the tomato is one of the main ingredients.

The savvy of an emigrant

The first legend says that the ingredients and method of preparing Greek salad were invented quite by accident.

Allegedly in 1909, a Greek emigrant was returning home from America. The reason was more than weighty: the sister called the man to her son's wedding. Without thinking twice, the "American" got ready and went to congratulate his beloved nephew on such a significant event. On the way, the man had a terrible toothache: the pills dulled the pain, but did not completely eliminate the disease.

And so the guest arrived at the wedding with sincere congratulations and a persistent toothache. As usual, in honor of the arrival, a sumptuous table with rustic dishes was laid. Over the years of his life in America, the man terribly missed Greek products, but now the aching tooth prevented him from fully enjoying the desired treat.

Note that in those days nothing was slaughtered in the Greek villages. Tomatoes, cucumbers and sweet onions were simply bitten off: just like apples or peaches are eaten today. Cheese was also eaten with a thin flatbread. But because of a tooth, it was unpleasant and painful for an emigrant to bite food, so the man decided to break the food into large pieces. He took an earthenware bowl and shredded all the vegetables in it, placing a wide layer of cheese on top and dousing everything for greater softness with olive oil.

Having tried a spoonful of the resulting mixture, the man was so delighted that he even almost forgot about the toothache. He offered to try the miracle of cooking to his sister: she was also impressed extraordinary taste food. I liked the dish so much that it was cooked on wedding table. The guests of the celebration were delighted and asked the hostess for a hitherto unseen recipe. culinary masterpiece. And so the flattering reviews about the Greek salad spread around the world, which, by the way, is still cut into large chunks. And in Greece itself, this dish was given the name χωριάτικη σαλάτα (pronounced HoriAtiki salad), which means “village salad”.

tourism boom

However, there is an opinion that only a person closely associated with cooking could come up with a very tasty Greek salad, because. products match perfectly. The legend about the savvy emigrant is just a fiction that entertains tourists.

Indeed, the benefits and taste of Greek salad began to be cultivated in the 60-70s of the XX century. It was then that the first wave of tourist boom came to post-war Athens. Thousands of travelers went to see the cradle of the ancient civilization, but the country's infrastructure was not yet ready for such increased demand.

Hotels, taverns and cafes were crowded with tourists. Chefs literally did not leave the stove for days on end, fulfilling continuously incoming orders. But still there were those who were dissatisfied, who were disgusted by the long wait for dishes. Then one of the chefs came up with what to do with tourists while waiting for a hot dish - he quickly chopped vegetables, for delicate taste added cheese and olive oil, garnished his recipe with lettuce, and ordered it to be served as Chef's Dish of the Day.

The success of the new recipe has been overwhelming! Every tourist wanted to try a dish of traditional Greek products, and the simplicity of preparation allowed the chefs to feed customers and save time for other dishes. Since then, Horiatiki Salad has been on the menu of any Greek restaurant.

And even later, when a healthy lifestyle came into fashion everywhere, a significant role was played in the popularization of the dish. beneficial features found in Greek lettuce. Fresh vegetables seasoned with olive oil and sour-milk cheese are just a storehouse of vitamins and nutrients. And this is not all that Horiatiki (Greek salad) is useful for: thanks to the properties of the products, the dish prevents vascular diseases, gastrointestinal tract, the development of diabetes and obesity, and also contributes to the rapid recovery of damage to the body.

Thus, in distribution Greek recipe Around the world, several factors played a role at once:

available ingredients;
ease of preparation;
delicate and unusual taste of the dish;
health benefits of greek salad.

It is also important that thousands of tourists visit Greece every year, who, upon returning home, talk about their impressions, popularize Greek culture and culinary traditions.

Making Greek salad at home does not require a long search for rare delicacies. The composition of the dish is extremely simple: all the ingredients for the Greek salad can be collected in the nearest supermarket in 5 minutes. But if possible, it is better to buy ingredients for Greek salad from farmers: natural vegetables, carefully grown in the garden, are tastier than agricultural products from large suppliers.

So, what is included in the Greek salad, which is called “Rustic” at home? Yes, everything that is usually put on the dining table by the inhabitants of any village in Greece. Namely:

tomatoes;
cucumbers;
bell pepper;
sweet onion;
pitted olives;
Chees Feta.

In addition, more spices are added to the Greek salad with cheese and olives: salt, pepper, and oregano. There are a couple more subtleties in how to cook Greek salad. So, for beauty, the products included in the Greek salad are placed on lettuce leaves, and for a rich taste, the mixture is poured with a special fill. AT conventional prescription Greek salad is seasoned with olive oil or lemon juice, but there are also refined options.

Greek salad dressing

So, an integral part of every Greek salad is filling with spices.

The classic recipe is based on olive oil, which is mixed with lemon juice or vinegar. But over the years Greek dish got a lot of filling variations. For example, salad dressing can be made with soy sauce, white wine, or orange zest. Apple cider vinegar and red pomegranate juice will add a tart taste to vegetables, and Greek honey, diluted with olive oil and mustard, will add notes of sweetness to the salad.

For piquant taste spices and herbal spices are added to the salad dressing. In the classics, they prefer to use oregano and basil, but there are no restrictions for homemade recipes. Housewives add pepper, thyme, parsley, garlic, salt and other spices to the dressing. It all depends on the choice of the chef and the taste preferences of the guests.

And we also note that, although the serving of the cooked Greek salad occurs immediately before use, it is advisable to leave the filling for it for several hours. During this time, the spices will infuse, and give the sauce a unique aroma and rich taste.

Preparing Greek Salad

When you want to make a new dish, questions immediately arise about the recipe, time and cooking stages. Therefore, we propose to disassemble the preparation of Greek salad step by step. We will tell you in detail how much and what you need to take, how to cut a Greek salad and how to season it. But since the composition of the products that are put in the Greek salad depends on the cooking recipe, we suggest disassembling different variants dishes.

Classic recipe

Classic is the fastest and easiest Greek salad recipe. It will take a standard set of ingredients and 15 minutes of time.

Also do not forget to prepare salt, pepper and dried herbs for the Greek salad. We’ll make a reservation right away that with individual intolerance, you can cook a Greek salad without onions or without pepper, but you yourself understand that then the dish will lose its classic taste.

So, the composition of the products is selected - we proceed to cooking. First, wash the vegetables, dry them with paper towels and large slices cut like Greek salad has been done for centuries. Cut the tomatoes in half, and then divide each slice in half again. Cucumbers are cut into thick semicircles, onions into rings, and bell peppers into strips. We put all the vegetables in a salad bowl and add whole olives to them. The Greek classic salad recipe involves the addition of pitted olives, but pitted olives can also be used.

The salad is almost ready, it remains to prepare the dressing and add the cheese. For pouring, mix olive oil, squeezed lemon juice and spices: ground pepper, salt and Greek oregano. We season the vegetables and put the cheese in the salad. There are two ways to do this: cut the feta into cubes, or simply put a layer of cheese on top.

The dish is ready! You can invite "Greeks" to the table and surprise them with homemade Greek salad.

Changing the classics

Not a single recipe is reproduced exactly by chefs: everyone brings a bit of their vision into the preparation, creating, in fact, a slightly different dish. Horiatiki has also received many variations: some prepare a Greek salad by adding green salad directly to vegetables, others make a Greek salad without olives (olives), and still others even manage to cook a Greek salad without cucumbers!

How many people - so many opinions and tastes, and each of them has the right to exist. Therefore, do not limit your imagination and do not strive to do everything strictly according to the classics. Let the traditional Greek salad be prepared with bell pepper and olive oil, but if these ingredients are not to your taste, make the Greek salad in your own way: without pepper and with vegetable oil. And if you don’t like large cuts, cut the vegetables into cubes, and the Greek salad will become much tastier for you.

Replacing feta cheese

Of course, to prepare a Greek salad the way it is prepared in Greece, you need to have the same products on hand. It is clear that we have no less tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, and finding sweet onions is not a problem. But the cheese that is added to the Greek salad is difficult to acquire, if only because it is produced only in Greece. The country has officially patented the Feta brand and does not allow any global company to use original recipe and title.

But it is the cheese that gives the Greek salad a delicate creamy taste. Of course, real Feta can be found in specialized stores, but it is still available to a small part of the population. Therefore, there is nothing else left but to replace Greek cheese with a similar one. Russian product. There are several options available to our hostesses:

Fetax;
Sirtaki;
Mozzarella;
tofu;
Adyghe cheese;
Cheese;
Suluguni.

Each of the cheeses is characterized by its own flavor, as described in the next article. So even without Feta you can make if not 100% Horyatika, then certainly delicious salad with vegetables and cheese in Greek style.

Add meat or fish

A little higher, we have already listed what was included in the classic Greek salad, and mentioned that you can safely change the composition of the dish.

So, lovers of hearty and high-calorie meals can add greek salad meat ingredients. Usually it is chicken, which goes well with vegetables, beef or ham. And you should not be skeptical about such recipes: if you are already preparing a Greek salad without cucumbers and peppers, then why not add meat for a change. Moreover, in Greek taverns, ordering a traditional Greek salad rarely goes without a delicious meat side dish.

In general, Horiatiki goes well with side dishes, so you can experiment with the dish as much as you like. So, sometimes seafood is put in a Greek salad: cod, crab meat, shrimp, salmon or trout. In this case, the calorie content of the food also increases.

But the opposite is also true: if we have a diet, or just a preference for vegetarian food, then we prepare a lean Greek salad with a minimum of fat. It is enough to replace high-calorie Feta with dietary Tofu and not overdo it with the addition of olive oil.

Greek salad - top 10 recipes

All of the above suggests that housewives do not always have to cook Greek salad according to the classics. Who, if not cooks, knows that the same taste of a dish quickly becomes boring, and the recipe for a traditional Greek salad is no exception. Therefore, we offer original variants and Greek salad ideas to make at home.

Layered Greek salad with shrimps

This recipe is suitable for those who are thinking how to make a Greek salad at home for a holiday or family reunion. To prepare the dish, you will need the following ingredients:

Artichokes - 400 gr.;
Sweet onion - 0.5 pcs.;
Tomatoes - 2 pcs;
Fresh cucumber - 2 pcs. ;
lettuce leaves- 300 gr.;
Olives- 1 can (seedless);
Feta - 200 gr.;
Shrimps - 300 gr;
Cherry and Pepperoncini peppers, chopped - 1 tbsp each;
Natural yogurt - 200 gr.;
Mayonnaise - 100 gr.;
Lemon juice - 1 tbsp;
Dill - 1 tbsp;
Vegetable oil - 1 tbsp;
Spices and seasonings - to taste.

Let's prepare the filling first. Mix yogurt, mayonnaise, lemon juice and add dill. Let the sauce sit in the refrigerator.

We cut the vegetables and lay out our Greek salad in layers. Lay lettuce leaves on the bottom, then layers of artichokes, tomatoes and peppers. The salad is topped with diced cheese, olives and onion rings. Salt can be added if desired, but the flavor imparted by pickles to a Greek salad is usually sufficient. Cover the dish with a lid and put it in the refrigerator for several hours.

And just before holiday dinner or dinner, we start frying the shrimp (previously sprinkled with spices). Enough for 1 minute on each side. We take out our salad, decorate with shrimp, add dressing and serve. Enjoy your meal!

Greek salad with cheese

And this dish resembles a Shopska salad, with the only difference being that the Greek version is a salad with olives. We give the composition of the products and the technology of preparation.

Ingredients
Tomatoes	cucumbers	Onion	Brynza	Bulgarian pepper	Olives
2-3 pcs. (or "Cherry" 300 gr)	2-3 pcs.	1 PC.	150 gr.	Large, 1 pc.	150 gr.
*Fill:* vegetable oil(2 tablespoons), lemon juice (2 tablespoons), oregano (10-15 gr.), salt, pepper, spices (to taste).
Cooking steps
1. Wash and cut vegetables: in a Greek salad, tomatoes should be cut into large slices, cucumbers into thick rounds, onions and peppers into half rings. Cheese is cut into cubes, olives are allowed to be put whole or cut lengthwise. 2. Put everything in a salad bowl, pepper and salt to taste.

Choriatiki with chicken and avocado

Taverns often serve Greek salad with hot meat or fish side dishes. In this recipe, we propose to combine meat with vegetables in one dish. And also move away from the classics and cook a Greek salad with avocados, without peppers and cucumbers.

Ingredients:

Chicken - 1.5 kg;
Tomatoes - 4 pcs.;
Green salad - 2 heads;
Avocado - 2 pcs.;
Feta - 200 gr.;
Green onion - 100 gr.;
Olives - 100 gr.;
Lemon juice - 3 tablespoons;
Olive oil - 5 tablespoons;
Oregano, mint, parsley - 1 tsp each

Wash, chop and fry the chicken. Chop lettuce and tomatoes into large pieces. Cut the onion feathers together with the white part. Place all ingredients in one salad bowl. Wash the avocado, remove the pit, cut the fruit into cubes and pour over the lemon juice.

In a separate plate, break the cheese with your hands, and sprinkle it with dried spices. Prepare filling. Beat olive oil and lemon juice, add pepper and salt to taste. Pour the infused cheese to the vegetables and chicken, mix the salad and pour everything with the prepared dressing. Top the serving with greens and a slice of lemon.

Greek Salad with Tofu

Classic recipe, free from extra calories. We take the usual list of ingredients and replace the sweet onion with onion and Feta cheese with Tofu cheese. The cooking sequence is the usual: cut the vegetables, prepare the dressing, mix everything and spread the cheese on top. The result is a light Greek salad according to a classic recipe.

Greek salad with pasta (macaroni)

Grocery list
Pasta	Tomatoes	Olives	Red bell pepper	Feta	green onion	Olive oil	Wine
300 gr.	500 gr.	1 bank	1 PC.	150 gr.	50 gr.	120 ml.	120 ml.
*Spices:* garlic 2 cloves, dry oregano (1.5 tsp), dry basil (1.5 tsp), ground pepper (0.5 tsp), salt (0.5 tsp) , sugar (0.5 tsp)
Cooking steps
1. Cook pasta, drain water, let cool. 2. In a separate large saucepan, set on low heat, mix olive oil, vinegar and spices. Stir, bring to the desired condition and turn off the fire. 3. Put the pasta in the prepared filling, add chopped vegetables there, mix everything. 4. Cover with a lid and send to infuse in the refrigerator. The salad is ready to eat in 2 hours, but if you leave it overnight, the taste of the dish will become even richer.

And this recipe involves not only new ingredients for Greek salad, but also unusual way cooking.

Greek salad in lavash

An unusual treat for the table is a Greek salad wrapped in a simple pita bread. The salad is prepared according to the classic recipe, only it is not laid out in a common salad bowl, but wrapped in pita bread in portions.

Salad "Greek motives" with crab meat

And this step by step recipe Greek salad prepared with crab meat. We will need olives, crab meat or sticks, sour cream, lemon and fresh vegetables: Bulgarian pepper (1 pc.), Cucumbers (2 pcs.), Tomatoes (2 pcs.) and green onion(100 gr.).

We cut all the ingredients, mix in a salad bowl, season with sour cream, salt and pepper to taste. For piquancy, drip lemon juice on top and decorate with a sprinkle of green onions. Bright and delicious Greek salad is ready!

Greek salad on croutons

Another way to make Greek salad at home and serve it in an unusual way.

We start cooking with croutons. While the oven is preheating, chop the garlic and mix it with olive oil. Lubricate the slices of bread with the prepared filling and put on a baking sheet. Bake the bread for 2-3 minutes (until crispy), take out, grease again with oil and leave to reach in the oven.

At this time, we are preparing a Greek salad according to the classics: we cut the vegetables, pour them with oil, decorate with olives and Feta cubes. Remains finishing touch- put croutons on big dish and with a spoon we shift the chopped Greek salad onto them. Sprinkle the finished snack with sesame seeds, pine nuts and serve.

Greek salad with shrimp and yogurt dressing

Not only on the basis of olive oil there are recipes for the most delicious Greek salad. For example, delicious food with green salad leaves, boiled shrimps and yogurt dressing.

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce - 1 head;
Feta - 200 gr.;
Shrimps - 500 gr.;
Cucumber - 1 pc.;
Tomatoes - 2 pcs.;
Olives - 150 gr.;
Yogurt - 200 gr.;
Lemon juice - 2 tablespoons;
Salt, pepper, garlic - to taste.

We load cheese into a blender, pour yogurt and lemon juice, add garlic, salt and pepper and grind. Cut the cucumber, add the shrimp and season with the remaining yogurt. Put the mixture from the blender on portioned plates, add shrimp with cucumber on top, decorate with olives and tomato. The dish is ready!

Greek squid salad

According to reviews, the recipe for Greek salad with squid and potatoes is also good.

Shred tomatoes, bell peppers, carrots and boiled potatoes. Squids are boiled and finely chopped into a cooked Greek salad. Pour vegetable oil, lemon juice and sour cream into a salad bowl. Mix, add seasonings and sprinkle with herbs. Ready!

How beautiful to serve a Greek salad

Above in the recipes, we have already mentioned ways to serve Greek salad beautifully and unusually. But there are other options as well.

Cooks as soon as they do not go out: the salad is served in a boat of bell peppers, lettuce or in the skin of an avocado. They also build turrets from vegetables, separating each layer with a Feta cube. Salad is often served with bread or in pita bread.

In any case, Greek salad is consumed immediately after cooking, because. fresh vegetables are not stored for a long time. The only exception is the "hot" version of the salad.

Bon appetit and see you soon!

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