Greek salad - general principles and methods of cooking
Traditional Greek cuisine is very lively and light, full of freshness and Mediterranean flavors. Her roots include sharing meals with friends, compulsory family dinners and a non-tense, simple manner. All this can be felt in the real pearl of Greek cuisine, its original business card - Greek salad. The Greeks' preferences for fresh produce, flourishing in the dry climate of the Greek islands with “340 suns” a year, are fully embodied in the village salad, in the Greek choryatiki, which ranks first in popularity in Mediterranean restaurants. And how else?
Juicy sweet tomatoes, plump seductive olives, lemons, wild greens, brilliant zucchini and various peppers, and, of course, the best vegetable oil in the world is olive oil. Separately, the priorities of real Greeks are cheeses: various types of cheese, soft non-sharp cheese like ricotta, and, of course, salted feta - sheep or goat cheese, used in various local salads. Unusual aromas are also achieved by using rosemary, parsley, coriander, basil, oregano and mint.
The Greek salad itself has many recipes that many countries of the world have appropriated for themselves, but the same components are unchanged - cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and cheese, which are cut into large pieces. Among other things, it is also a very healthy salad. If we consider its composition from the point of view of medicine, then we can write a whole dissertation on the benefits and effects of health. Suffice it to say that the essential elements - green lettuce and olive oil contain large amounts of folic acid, which contributes to the production of the hormones of happiness in the body - endorphins. So, we are cooking Greek salad today, and we are in a great mood.
Greek Salad - Food Preparation
Most importantly, the products were fresh. And not just fresh, but very fresh, perfect - just picked from the garden. In winter, the garden replaces the greenhouse. This Greek salad is seasoned with only the best olive oil. In some salads, cheese is not cut into pieces, but is served in a large piece in the center of a serving salad bowl, poured with dressing.
Greek Salad - Best Recipes
Recipe 1: Classic Greek Salad
In the classic salad recipe very skillfully used combinations of vegetables and seasonings. In this case, we choose oregano and ground pepper. Have you tried many times this salad, but still do not know how it is prepared? Then this recipe is for you!
Ingredients: cucumbers (3 pcs), tomatoes (3 pcs), feta cheese (200 gr), red meaty pepper, large red onion, black olives (1 can), dry oregano, ground pepper, salt.
Method of preparation
Washed cucumbers, tomatoes, cut into large slices, cut pepper into long strips of pepper. Red onion is cut into rings. Also cut the rings with olives, leaving only a few whole things for decoration. In a beautiful transparent salad bowl lay out the vegetables in layers, lay small cubes of cheese on top, do not mix. Whole olives will look great on top of the salad, pour all the olive oil, sprinkle with lemon juice - and on the table! Salt last, so that the vegetables do not lose the juice prematurely. Feta cheese itself is salty, so be careful with salt.
Recipe 2: Greek salad in pita
Have you started a light buffet? Lavash salad is something that will help you feel free and easy, even moving around the room. Simply wrap the specially prepared salad in small pieces of pita, and the original appetizer is ready. Ingredients: Pita bread (2 pcs), young garlic (2 cloves), pitted olives (200 g), olive oil (50 ml), small cucumbers (4 pcs), feta cheese (200 g) , Bulgarian pepper, tomatoes (4 pcs), lettuce, lemon juice.
Method of preparation
Cut the ingredients. Dice tomatoes and cucumbers, peel and chop the garlic, cut olives in halves. Feta is cut into cubes, and the salad is best to pick hands, after rinsing and drying.
In a separate bowl, mix the pouring - olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, lemon juice. We put there tomatoes, olives, cucumbers and lettuce. Gently but thoroughly mixed.
Pita bread is divided into 4 parts. We decompose and on each part we put several spoons of salad, we turn in a tubule. Great snack, comfortable and tasty. Eat sooner so that the pita doesn’t soften.
Recipe 3: Original Greek Chicken Salad
In most recipes, the Greek salad is a light snack made from fresh vegetables, perfectly perceived by the body, and serves as an additional dish. Let's try to “weight” it with the addition of meat, overcooked with onions. Otherwise, its ingredients remain unchanged, except that the structure will be somewhat different - we will form the salad in layers. No doubt, this salad will be appreciated by men - meat eaters, who like to eat any meat ... with meat. In terms of nutritional value, it will not yield to the beloved of all “Olivier”, and the decoration is much more interesting.
Ingredients: Chicken mince (300-400 grams), tomatoes (4 pieces), onions (1 piece), pickled pepper (3 pieces), black pitted olives, sour cream 150 g, yogurt (200 g) , cucumber, dill, garlic, pepper.
Method of preparation
Fry the minced meat with garlic. In order to feel their involvement in Greece, we will use the national seasoning. Cool the minced meat and spread it in a salad bowl - the first layer is ready. Onion, cut into rings, mix with a small amount of pickled pepper and salt - this will be our second layer. Next comes the hot pickled pepper, which is cut into cubes and laid out on top of the onion. Next are chopped tomatoes. It is important not to pereuvlazhit our salad, so remove the seeds from the tomatoes, to remove excess juice. Cut the olives and top them up on tomatoes. Pour sauce: mix yogurt with sour cream and add herbs and cucumber. Decorate the salad with colorful vegetables and olives and put in the fridge to soak. This is a very beautiful and nutritious salad, they can almost completely dine. You will be surprised how well the chicken is in harmony with olives and vegetables.
Recipe 4: Greek beet salad - the basis of the Mediterranean diet
The popular love of the Greeks for gatherings is accompanied by an abundance of salads on the table. Moreover, mayonnaise or any other heavy salads are not recognized, Greek mistresses prefer light vegetables, natural, wholesome and quick to prepare. Such as, for example, this unpretentious beet salad, the basis of the most proper Mediterranean diet.
Ingredients: beets, always with tops (1 kg), lemon juice, olive oil, salt.
Method of preparation
Cut the tops, cook the beets on the fire, not peeling. 5 minutes before the end of cooking, we put everything in the pot in the pot - both cuttings and leaves. Drain the water, cut large tops and put in a shallow dish. Top lay the beets in the form of slices or circles. Oil and vinegar are whipped with salt, the resulting dressing is poured vegetables. Eat and lose weight on health!
