During these dog days of August, I love a simple, refreshing Greek salad, perfect for lunch or a light supper. It’s not surprising that I find this simple salad satiating. Authentic Greek flavors are like those I savored in my grandmother’s kitchen. The Eastern coast of Sicily, just a half-hour from the village where my maternal grandmother was born, was colonized by the Greeks at Giardini Naxos three thousand years ago. Greek is likely embedded in my mitochondrial-DNA, traversing the Mediterranean with my ancestral haplogroup – my mother line.
The contemporary Greek salad, as we know it today, was said to have been invented in the 1960s by restaurateurs in Athens. According to the Greek from Greece website, the salad originated because there was a cap on the price of essential products. To circumvent the state-imposed salad tariff, these restauranteurs embellished the traditional recipe by adding feta cheese, thereby enabling them to charge more for the salad.
I often prepare Horiatiki, which means “from a village,” using a recipe found in modern GREEK by Andy Harris. The key to making this simple dish satisfying is all in the choice of ingredients. I strive to add authenticity by selecting mostly imported Greek kalamata olives, oregano, sheep and goat’s milk feta cheese, and extra virgin olive oil.
Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is one of the healthier dietary fats. Dr. William Li, author of Eat to Beat Disease, recommends using cold-pressed extra-virgin olive oil produced from a monovarietal: olives that are all one type, insuring quality. Among the Greek olives, he prefers Koroneiki olives because of their high polyphenol content, which boosts metabolism. “This is a common olive native to the Peloponnesus that’s very potent in the bioactive polyphenol compound hydroxytyrosol, which is highly immune-enhancing, anti-angiogenic, and helps protect your DNA2 from damage,” Dr. Li said in an interview with Stephanie Eckelkamp, contributing Health and Nutrition Editor for MindBodyGreen. Kosterina is one brand of EVOO made from Koroneiki olives that I enjoy, and it’s one of Dr. Li’s favorites also.
Horiatiki Salad from modern Greek
Ingredients:
- 4 ounces of feta cheese
- 1 red or green bell pepper
- 1 English cucumber
- 5 tomatoes
- Handful black olives
- 1 head romaine lettuce, dark outer leaves removed
- 1 small red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Olive oil for dressing salad
- Red wine vinegar
- Assemble cheese and vegetables in a large bowl.
- Sprinkle with oregano, salt, and pepper.
- Drizzle with oil and vinegar.
(Serves 4)
Enjoy!
♥ Susan L. Ward
Integrative Nutrition Health Coach