Horiatiki (Greek Salad)

I spent years working two blocks from Greek Town in Detroit. So I know Greek food quite well. This is standard just about everywhere, but there are purists and there are purists.

Since this is peasant food, every Greek on the face of the earth has their own recipe, and they vary to a degree, but not too much. I’m giving you the one that I like best, but will note some of the variations.

What a true horiatiki does not contain is lettuce. This makes it great fare for leisurely meals or for the buffet, since lettuce only wilts.

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 c of tomatoes (use any variety, from cherry to romas), in bite-sized chunks (do note that the seedier types will be more juicy. Small cherry varieties can be left whole to minimize this)
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and then chunked
1 half of a fairly good-sized red onion, cut in rings, not razor thin, more like 1/4 inch
1 small green pepper, in a large dice
2/3 c beets, canned or pickled (this was common in Detroit, not so much elsewhere but a personal favorite)Blot dry before adding to minimize the bleeding.
1 c olives kalamata or black as you desire. I prefer the tang of the kalamata.
1/2 c pepperoncini peppers for garnish
1/2 c or more feta cheese (purists like it in one chunk laid on the top, others are fine with diced up)
juice of one lemon (purists again use red wine or no acidic addition at all)
2/3 c EVOO
2 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
salt and pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

Assemble all your veggies in a bowl
Whisk the lemon, olive oil, oregano and salt and pepper together and pour over the salad, garnish with the pepperoncini.
Alternatively, serve the dressing on the side and allow people to drizzle what they want onto the salad.

SERVES: 6

NOTES: If you leave the salad undressed, it can be stored for several days quite well. If dressed, a couple of days is about all you can expect. Use the best quality feta you can get, the brick forms I find are better than the crumbled form.

SOURCE: Sherry Peyton