Greek Salad #Ina Fridays

It’s time for another year of celebrating the love of cooking with Ina.  This month we have the Soup/ Salads/ Sides.  Though I wanted to make a soup in the always wet weather of Seattle, I had to settle for a salad.  We are taking a small break and came out to Seattle to visit a friend and his family. After spending a very fun and enjoyable couple of days with them we moved to a small beach town and settled ourselves to enjoy some quite time by the beach and just do nothing.   My best efforts to get the husband agree to staying in a place where we had a small kitchenette to ourselves, failed. Miserably. He would have none of it. So I almost didn’t make this post.

Then I got talking to the owner of the B&B we were staying at. We talked about life in general and about food. She told me that she catches crabs right by her front door in season! Talk about fresh sea- food. So while talking about food, I asked her if I could try out a recipe of a  Greek salad by Ina in her kitchen and she gladly agreed. There I was, welcomed into the kitchen to make a salad. She added a few touches of hers into the salad and I didn’t object. After all, I was the guest, she the host. We made a wonderful lunch salad and ate it with freshly made Pita bread and a cup of good Seattle coffee. And made plans to cook an Indian meal together. So much for the Husband’s plan of keeping me away from a kitchen.

Food is a unique cultural experience. It brings people from cultures together and new friendships are formed. Check out what some of my blogger freinds have cooked up for the first Ina Friday of 2014.

• Happy New Year and May Each Day of the New Year be the Best!

•  Alyce @ moretimeatthetable
• Barbara @ Moveable Feasts 
• Bhavna @ Just a Girl From AAmchi Mumbai
• Chaya @  Bizzy Bakes
• Linda  @ Tumbleweed Contessa
• Minnie @ The Lady 8 Home
• Mireya @ My Healthy Eating Habits
• Rocky Mountain Woman @ Rocky Mountain Woman
•  Veronica @ My Catholic Kitchen
• Mary – Mary @ Everyday Miracles and Mayhem
• Peggy @ Pantry Revisited
• Patti @ Comfy Cuisine

Print

Greek Salad #Ina Fridays

Ingredients

• 1 medium head iceberg lettuce torn
• 1/4 C pickled peppers chopped
• 1 hothouse cucumber unpeeled, sliced 1/4-inch thick
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes halved
• 1/2 red onion sliced in half-rounds
• 1/2 pound feta cheese 1/2-inch diced (not crumbled)
• 1/2 cup calamata olives pitted
• 1/4 C shredded red cabbage

For the vinaigrette:

• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup good red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup good olive oil

Instructions

1. Place the lettuce, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes and red onion and cabbage in a large bowl.

For the vinaigrette

1. Whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Still whisking, slowly add the olive oil to make an emulsion. Pour the vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add the feta and olives and toss lightly. Set aside for 30 minutes to allow the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature.