This lovely Greek salad with heirloom tomatoes and the traditional flavours is bright and refreshing that makes it irresistibly delicious! This decorative and refreshing salad is a perfect addition to many summer grilled meats. more specifically Greek grilled chicken or lamb chops.
This Greek salad has the colour, flavour and texture to make it a scrumptious salad! I decided not have garlic this time, but it’s one of those ingredients I suggest to add. I chose not to, since I was serving this salad with Greek grilled chicken and tzatziki and both were loaded with garlic, I opted not to added it. I tend to use goat feta cheese for my recipes because it has less sodium and easier to digest, another words suitable for those who are lactose-intolerant.
The heirloom tomatoes are a lovely option that adds such a lovely colour and sweetness to this salad, and then drizzled with a light and refreshing dressing with crumbled feta gives this salad an abundance of flavour!
WHAT MAKES THIS SALAD SO DELICIOUS
Salad: The ingredients for this salad I chose heirloom tomatoes, for it’s abundance of sweetness, variety of colour and sizes. English cucumber and red onion were thinly sliced. Using local seasonal vegetables are a bonus, since they have much for flavour and sweetness.
I used goat feta cheese for this salad for it’s mild flavour, and other feta cheeses are good options, milk or sheep feta cheese. Garnish with fresh oregano and if you don’t have fresh, dried oregano will add the authentic Greek flavour to this salad. Fresh parsley to garnish
Dressing: When selecting an extra virgin olive oil, whether you choose from Italy, Greece, or Spain, each are exceptional and these countries are known to have the best in the world. Lemon juice is used often in Greek salads and dishes. It adds such a citrus pungent flavour and freshness for this salad, Red wine vinegar is recommended to use a good quality should have a balance of sweetness and acidity. When adding Oregano to this recipe and in most cases dried is used for the dressing and if you can find wildly grown dried oregano from Greece, you will recognize the difference with it’s pungent and floral fragant. Garlic is optional for this salad, although it offers such delicious flavour to this salad. When selecting which feta cheese to use, it tends to most often made from milk, however, I used goat cheese feta for this dish for it’s mild cheese flavour and it was delicious! Always important to season with salt and pepper.
HOW TO MAKE THIS SALAD
Preparing the veggies: cutting the vegetables can be a personal preference. I like to consistent with each vegetable. I have noticed my Greek friends are quite particular in the way they cut each vegetable. Top the salad with feta or in this recipe I added feta goat cheese. I recommend fresh vegetables that are in season for this salad. It tends to really make a difference in texture and flavour, especially the tomatoes.
Serving this salad: arrange the tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, and feta cheese on a plate. Pour the dressing over the salad, and garnish with fresh oregano leaves. This Greek salad doesn’t require all of time and effort to enjoy a delicious summer salad. Happy Eating!
WHAT TO SERVE THIS LOVELY gREEK SALAD
Serve this salad with grilled meats, more specifically lamb, beef, pork, and chicken, as well, with lamb or beef burgers. This salad would be lovely with any white fish as well. Other options, would be adding black beans or chickpeas to add protein to the salad to enjoy it as a light lunch. The links to these recipes below I have on my blog. Happy Eating 🙂
Greek Style Chicken Kebabs recipe: https://www.thehungarysoul.com/greek-style-chicken-kebabs/
Tzatziki recipe: https://www.thehungarysoul.com/tzatziki-sauce/
MAKE THIS GREEK SALAD as the original way as well, by cutting and chopping the ingredients then adding it to a bowl. Pour the dressing over the cut vegetables, and refrigerate for up to 2 hours, then add the feta cheese just before serving. Can I make this salad and serve it immediately? Absolutely, it’s a personal preference how you want to serve it, cold or room temperature, either way, simply enjoy! 🙂
FAQ
Can I substitute heirloom tomatoes for roma, beefsteak, vine tomatoes or green tomatoes? Absolutely, just arrange the tomatoes as I did and to alternate the colours, place cucumbers between the red colour of the tomatoes.
Can I add dried oregano instead of fresh oregano? Yes you can, and just make sure you sprinkle the dried oregano evenly over the tomatoes, cucumbers and red onion.
Can I slice the goat feta cheese instead of crumbing it? The next time I make this salad, that’s exactly what I am going to do, is slice the feta cheese rather then crumbing it. So the answer is absolutely!
Greek-Style Heirloom Tomato Salad
Ingredients
- 3 medium heirloom tomatoes, sliced
- 1/2 English cucumber, thinly sliced
- 1/4 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 1/4 coloured pepper, sliced (optional)
- 1/4 cup goat feta cheese, crumbled
- fresh oregano for garnishing
- fresh parsley, chopped for garnishing (optional)
Dressing:
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 11/2 tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar or vinegar
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano
- 1 clove garlic, minced (optional)
- salt and pepper, to season
Instructions
- Arrange sliced tomatoes, cucumber, red onion and pepper is using on large serving plate. Crumble the feta cheese over the vegetables.
- Whisk together in a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper, and garlic if you so desire. Pour the dressing over the salad, and garnish with fresh oregano leaves.
- Serve immediately. I prefer the tomatoes at room temperature, since they are most flavourful rather then refrigerated. If you prefer to refrigerate the salad, then I suggest for only about 20 minutes.
