Greek Salad

This salad recipe by Jamie Oliver is so flavorful – has no lettuce – uses a variety of tomatoes – and will knock your socks right off.  His calls for green bell pepper – I prefer the flavor of red or yellow.  And I also prefer Kalamata olives to black in this.  But otherwise – holy deliciousness.

Ingredients

Use a variety of ripe tomatoes [roughly 3-4 cups total] sliced and/or halved to bite-size 
My favorites: yellow or variety heirloom, grape tomatoes, cherry, and campari
1 medium red onion, peeled and thinly sliced
1 seedless cucumber [sometimes called “hothouse” – typically wrapped in plastic]
1 red or yellow bell pepper
A handful fresh dill roughly chopped
A handful fresh mint leaves roughly chopped
A large handful Greek kalamata olives, pitted and halved – use as many as you like… I go with at least 1 cup
Sea salt to taste
1 – 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar more if you like more
3 Tbsp good-quality extra-virgin olive oil
8 oz block feta cheese chopped or crumbled
1 tsp dried oregano

Directions

There really are no directions – only suggestion about presentation.  Vegetables chopped in uniform sizes are just prettier.  But if you don’t care – just go nuts.  Combine everything in a large bowl evenly, taste for salt and vinegar and let sit to meld the flavors.  I don’t suggest refrigerating this salad as tomatoes should always be left at room temp – unless you’re packing away left overs.  In other words, I wouldn’t make this salad very far ahead of serving.  Also – I’ve discovered while seedless cucumbers do have seeds, there is something so much more delicate about their skin.  There is no need for pealing, and they are so much more “floral” than regular cucumbers… something about them reminds me of watermelon without the sweetness.  So, be sure to look for the cucumber in the tight plastic wrapper.