Greek Village Salad

Greek village salad is an all time favorite, crowd pleaser, and my number one go-to salad for any occasion. Perhaps I’m bias because of my Greek heritage, but it never fails. I’m constantly asked for the recipe and for second servings. I’ve made it for years with all sorts of variations, but this one here is the best. Served as a side or as a main dish, it’s the perfect salad to bring to a party or for hosting a group dinner. Feel free to add protein on top (grilled shrimp or chicken are great additions), but it’s perfect as is. I’m happy to share one of my favorites with you. Opa!

GREEK VILLAGE SALAD
2 large handfuls of arugula
6 to 8 medium sized tomatoes cut into wedges
1 cucumber sliced
1/4 cup of thinly sliced red onions
1/3 cup of pitted kalamata olives
1/8 cup of capers
1 whole block of good quality feta
Fresh dill

Dressing:
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Start by making the dressing. You will NOT use all of it for this one salad. You will have a lot left over. In a medium sized bowl combine all ingredients except the olive oil. Using a whisk, mix well. Slowly start to pour the olive oil into the bowl while whisking it into the mixture briskly. Set aside.

In a large bowl that you will serve the salad out of, add your arugula. Take one tablespoon of the dressing and drizzle it on top. Toss with your hands or salad tongs until combined. (As a side note, traditionally Greek village salad or Horiatiki, does not have any lettuce or greens. But I have found that adding just a couple handfuls of arugula at the bottom of the salad adds a lovely peppery flavor that ties together all the flavors).

Next you start to layer the ingredients. Starting with half the amount of the tomatoes, place them around overtop the arugula. Then do the same with the cucumbers, half the amount. Next with the sliced onion, then half the amount of the olives. Then go back to the tomatoes layering them again, then cucumbers, onions and olives. (I like to do this layering process so that all the ingredients aren’t just sitting at the very top of the salad. It’s nice to get a little bit of everything in each bite even as the salad starts to disappear).

Now the best part, add your block of feta right on top. Make sure you get a good quality feta, it really is the crown of the salad. Imported Greek feta or I often use a slightly creamier French feta (shhh don’t tell). After the feta, take the capers and pour them all overtop the salad. Drizzle another tablespoon of dressing over the top (don’t overdress the salad! I really only use about 2 tablespoons of dressing for the whole salad). Lastly, take your fresh dill and pick off about 1/2 tablespoon or so of the feathery-like springs and sprinkle all over the salad. And that’s it! I don’t toss the salad because it just looks so damn pretty, but you don’t need to anyway because of how we layered the ingredients 🙂