Greek Salad Appetizer

I am a muncher. I love to keep snacking all day long. It's so difficult for me to eat 3 full meals at a time! I just can't. That's why I don't like to go to buffets. I start snacking on a few items, get full and that's it. Come back home and within an hour, I am starving! And at the same time I regret that I couldn't have the taste of so many items at the buffet. Well, this dish was born out of the same desire of mine to have the bits and pieces of salad all day long instead of having a bowlful of salad in one meal. This one was very easy to put together and looked so elegant, I make it often for my get-togethers and potlucks.

Who would have thought that this traditional country style salad would end up becoming one of the best loved Greek dishes in the world? There is only one secret ingredient in Mediterranean cooking. Freshest produce. The fresher the produce, the better the result.

Greek salad or Horiatiki Salata is a rough chopped country salad of juicy tomatoes, crisp sliced cucumber and red onion, cubed green peppers, crumbly feta cheese and plump kalamata olives, typically seasoned with salt, pepper and oregano and dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. I can eat this delightful combination as a light meal with a side of crusty bread with lots of extra virgin olive oil drizzled on top of it. Yummmm!

Instead of tossing everything together, I decided to use the toothpicks to hold the cubes of salad together and just dip the skewers in the dressing, even though I had the cubes marinated in the dressing earlier.
Easy, easy, easy and sure to be a hit at any party! Olives, tomatoes, feta and cucumbers. I have also made these with olives, tomatoes, and marinated mozzarella cheese-equally good.

Greek Salad

Ingredients
Dressing:
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1-1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
Tomato, onions, kalamata olives, feta cheese and cucumber as required.

How to:
Place the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper and oregano in a small jar with the screw-top lid and shake well to mix. You can either place the salad ingredients in the bowl and pour the dressing on top of them or make tiny bites using the skewers and place the dressing in small bowls to dip the skewers in.