Traditional Greek Salad Recipe a.k.a. the Horiatiki Salata

This classic Greek Salad Recipe is loaded up with fresh tomatoes, vegetables, feta cheese, and herbs in a light red wine vinaigrette.

A Greek salad, which is better known as a Horiatiki Salata in Greece, is a classic vegetable salad that is mixed with herbs, cheese, and a light vinaigrette. The tradition of eating a salad before the main meal was actually founded in ancient Greece. They believed that consuming fresh raw vegetables before a big main meal, that would aid in digestion.

Ingredients for this recipe:

• 5 cored vine ripe tomatoes cut into bitesize pieces
• 1 cucumber sliced into half-moons
• 1 seeded and julienne green bell pepper
• ½ peeled and julienne red onion
• ¼ cup capers
• 10 to 12 pitted kalamata olives
• 10 to 12 pitted green Greek olives
• 8-ounce block of feta cheese broken into bitesize pieces
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 ½ teaspoons dry oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Serves 8

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 0

Procedures:

1. Rinse and prepare all of the vegetables accordingly.
2. Add the tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, and red onions to a large platter or bowl.
3. Evenly place on the capers, olives, and feta cheese.
4. Drizzle on the olive oil and red wine vinegar.
5. Sprinkle the oregano, salt, and pepper over top, and serve.

Chef Notes:

Make-Ahead: Keep the dressing separate, but you can make this up to 1 day ahead of time. I would also advise keeping the feta cheese separate until ready to serve. Don’t season it either until ready to serve.

How To Store: If you can keep the seasoning and vinaigrette separate and cover and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Use pitted olives to make it easier to consume.

It is more classic to use a block of feta cheese rather than crumbles.

Any tomato will work for this recipe.