Greek Salad in the Home

Are you looking for an easy and delicious appetizer to start your meal? then give this restaurant-quality greek salad a try! plus I'll show you a quick method for pickling the onions to enhance the dishes flavor unless you're a fan of raw onions one way to make the flavor more interesting is to pickle the vegetables the process only takes 15 minutes and makes a huge flavor impact cut off both ends of a red onion make sure to leave the root end intact so it doesn't fall apart when you cut it make a shallow cut and then pull off the first layer so you can peel off the skin make a small cut down the side and then place that on the cutting board this way the onion's not going to roll around cut into 1/8-inch thick slices when you pull the layers apart you're going to have these nice circles, we need a 1/2 cup the pickling solution is just two ingredients in a small bowl, I'm going to add a 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar and 2 tablespoons of honey you could also use granulated sugar or pure maple syrup if you prefer a more tangy flavor you can omit the sweetener however I like the balance of flavors add in a 1/2 cup of the sliced onions do your best to submerge as many of the rings under the liquid as possible as the vegetables marinate the sulfurous compounds are going to mellow out due to the acids in the vinegar I let this sit for about 15 minutes and I'll check in about halfway through and just stir it so that all of the slices have contact with the liquid I have these beautiful crisp romaine hearts I'm going to clean them before cutting rinse the lettuce under cool running water shake to remove excess water and dry with clean towels I've washed and dried the lettuce to remove any dirt or contamination from the surface and between the leaves find the largest leaf and have that facing up, cut into strips lengthwise 3/4-inch thick then turn over and cut 3/4-inch strips again now cut into 3/4-inch thick pieces I like the crispiness of this lighter colored bottom end so make sure you keep that in too we need 8 cups for this recipe I've got a classic combination of mix-ins that I'm going to prepare that's going to add a nice contrast of flavors and textures but the salad is really easy to customize if you want to switch things up I have an English cucumber the skin is really thin so you don't have to peel it, slice off the ends then cut it into 4 pieces slice the cucumber in half lengthwise and then cut into quarters, turn and line them up, slice into 1/4-inch thick pieces the seeds are small so you don't have to scoop them out, we need 1 cup grab some ripe juicy tomatoes these are vine-ripened so I'm going to take them off the stem you can use your favorite tomatoes like a Roma or Campari whatever's in season slice them in half lengthwise then cut into 1/2-inch thick wedges this is going to add a nice sweet juiciness to the salad, we need 1 cup to cut the bell pepper trim off both ends cut in half lengthwise then carefully remove the inside of the pepper and the seeds this is gonna add a nice sweet and mild peppery taste without the heat, cut into 3/4-inch thick strips if you don't like bell peppers you can also use Pepperoncini's line them up and cut into 3/4-inch dice, we need 3/4 cup you can't have a Greek salad without some tangy and creamy feta cheese cut these into little cubes about a 1/4-inch thick that way they don't completely fall apart when we're mixing turn and cut into 1/4-thick cubes I love the briny flavor of the cheese you need 4 ounces to build the salad I have the 8 cups of lettuce add 1 cup of the diced English cucumber, 1 cup of the tomato wedges, 3/4 quarter cups of bell pepper, add 1/2 cup of the drained pickled onions add 1/2 cup of pitted kalamata olives, and 4 ounces of the cubed feta cheese I'm going to save a few cubes to use as garnish for later now set this aside to make the dressing I'm going to start by zesting a lemon the skin has these aromatic citrus oils that are fat-soluble so when you add them to the dressing it's going to dissolve in the olive oil and add a lot of dimension oh it smells really good already we need 1 teaspoon to juice the lemon, cut it in half, place it inside of the juicer and give it a good squeeze it's going to add a nice bright acidity to the vinaigrette we need 1 tablespoon to add an earthy bite to the dressing mince some fresh garlic cut off each end give the clove a smash this makes it easy to remove the skin use the fanning motion to mince into really small pieces wait to mince the garlic because the sulfurous allicin compounds in the ingredient is going to build as it's being cut down so the longer it sits the stronger the flavor will be and we don't want it to be overpowering, we need 2 teaspoons in a medium bowl, add 3 tablespoons of red wine vinegar, 1 teaspoon of lemon zest, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard, 1 teaspoon of honey the honey and mustard are both light emulsifiers so they're going to help the dressing stay suspended for longer 2 teaspoons of minced garlic, 1/2 teaspoon of dried oregano, its gonna add a nice herbaceous note, a 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, and a 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper just whisk this until everything is combined to make a properly emulsified dressing you're going to slowly add 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil while continuously whisking take your time with this process you want the oil to form small droplets so it's suspended in the liquid and over time will create a thickened consistency we want the dressing to cling to all of the ingredients if you add the oil all in at one time it's just going to coalesce together and create an oily layer on top this oil and vinegar dressing is a semi-permanent mixture which means it's not going to stay emulsified indefinitely so make sure if you don't dress the salad right away whisk it up before you add it on top this looks good it's clinging to the whisk which means it's going to grab onto the ingredients drizzle on about half of the dressing I like to serve the rest on the side for guests to add on later gently toss to combine if any of the heavier ingredients start to settle just bring them back to the top you're looking for an even coating on the leaves and also on the mix and ingredients you don't want the cheese to break down too much just a little bit wow this looks really good right before serving, I like to add a little bit more cheese on top then sprinkle with a little bit of extra dried oregano to make this a complete meal I would serve the salad with this roasted chicken recipe right here it makes for a healthy pairing .