By Tod Dimmick, cookbook author and editor of www.tastingtimes.comIn Greek mythology, Prometheus deceives Zeus by giving them the choice between two offerings. One offering was skin and bones, covered with snow-white fat. The other was the edible beef, covered with unappetizing entrails. Zeus chose the pile covered with fat, and was angry to find the contents. Today some local restaurants seem to offer a similar choice, where a seductive layer of cheese in a “Greek” salad hides greenish tomatoes, soggy cucumbers, and Iceberg Lettuce! For years I thought this was what a Greek should be, but then happy chance brought me to the real thing.
I remember it like it was yesterday. At the outdoor restaurant on Crete, we were served what I thought at first was a simple platter of vegetables, resplendent with chunks of juicy tomato, cucumbers, savory onion, and crisp sweet peppers, all topped with fresh basil and Kalamata olives, and glistening with olive oil and wine vinegar. On this mas-terpiece reclined a wedge of feta so creamy I wanted to eat it alone. I looked around at other tables: one man carefully assembled a bite that included every ingredient. We at-tempted the same. “You know” my wife whispered to me, “this is the best Greek salad I’ve ever tasted”. Of course it was. It was not only the best; it was a link I didn’t even know was missing when I crunched on lettuce in my stateside Greek Salads.
2 fresh tomatoes cut into bite size chunks
2 fresh green bell peppers, seeds removed, cut into bite size chunks
1 fresh cucumber, half peeled into “stripes”, split lengthwise, and cut into bite size pieces
1/2 a large sweet onion, such as Vidalia, cut into small pieces
Fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
About 25 Kalamata olives
4-5 oz. Feta cheese
Extra virgin olive oil
Red Wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, onions, and basil, drizzle to taste with vinegar and olive oil, and mix. Top with olives and wedges of Feta, and salt and pepper to taste.
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