Back to Basics: Taste of summer

There’s nothing quite like the taste of a summery meal, especially when captured in a vibrant and refreshing Greek salad.

With farmers markets overflowing and gardens bursting with ripe produce, there’s no better time to celebrate the season's bounty. I'm fortunate enough to have a garden where I grow crisp cucumbers, juicy tomatoes, and vibrant peppers, which are almost ready to pick. Combined with fresh herbs, these ingredients transform a simple Greek salad into a symphony of flavors and textures.

My easy-to-prepare salad recipe is the perfect way to enjoy the freshest ingredients. I'll share the traditional elements of a Greek salad as well as some personal twists that I've found to complement the flavors beautifully.

The Greek salad (horiatiki), which translates to "village salad," is a relatively recent dish, popularized in the mid-20th century despite many of its core ingredients being part of Greek cuisine for centuries. The rise of tourism in the 1960s and 1970s played a major role in its popularization, becoming a symbol of Greek cuisine worldwide. The exact origins are debated, with some suggesting it was created in tourist restaurants to circumvent price controls. Regardless of its origin, the Greek salad remains a beloved and iconic dish.

For a traditional Greek salad, it is common to use tomatoes, cucumber, green bell pepper, red onion, Kalamata olives, fresh herbs such as mint and oregano, and, of course, feta cheese. The dressing is commonly prepared from olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, salt, and pepper. However, like any recipe, this one also invites many delicious possible modifications.

When it comes to vegetables, it is common to use other colors of bell peppers or even other kinds of peppers, such as banana peppers. Capers or even artichokes are delicious additions. Some people enjoy adding lettuce of any kind. As for herbs, basil, spearmint, parsley, thyme, and others are often used. If you don't have access to fresh herbs, dried is clearly the second-best option. The dressing can be spiced up with Dijon mustard and even pressed garlic. Substituting red wine vinegar with balsamic vinegar is another great option.

The list of possibilities goes on and on, but the key deciding factors should be the accessibility of fresh ingredients and your flavor preferences. Make your Greek salad from the freshest and best possible ingredients that suit you best, and don't worry too much about whether your Greek salad is 100 percent traditional.

Now, let me share with you how I prefer my version of the Greek salad, the way that all my family and friends love it. First, it's good to mention that it's best to use the largest mixing bowl you have to stay organized and productive in the kitchen. I usually start by dicing the tomatoes. If the freshest option is cherry tomatoes, I simply cut them in half. Then I add diced cucumber that I peeled beforehand (peeling is optional, but I prefer it this way).

Following this, I add diced yellow bell pepper, which brings a nice bright color and perfect flavor. If I don't have yellow, my second-best option would be red, and my third option would be green. Then I add finely sliced red onion — slicing the onion especially fine will bring a delicious undertone along with finesse. If I run out of red onion, I don't hesitate to substitute it with any other kind of onion or even shallots. Then I add pitted Kalamata olives, which I often substitute with other kinds of pitted olives if I run out.

Then I add finely chopped fresh herbs directly from the garden. I typically use basil, oregano, mint, and thyme, but I often add parsley as well.

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Finally, I crumble in feta cheese, which is my kids’ favorite part of the salad. I enjoy all sorts of cheese from all around the world, but if I can, I always choose a traditional Greek feta for its full and authentic flavors. You can purchase already crumbled feta to make preparation of the salad a little easier, but using a cheese that was resting in brine will bring you much fuller flavors.

And now, let's talk about the dressing. Here, simplicity is key. To work smart and productively, I prefer to prepare the dressing by simply adding all the ingredients right on top of the vegetables. It will combine nicely when stirring of the salad, and you'll save yourself a couple of dishes.

For the dressing, I like to use extra-virgin olive oil. I use a good quality one since it will be one of the most important flavors of our salad, and good olive oil will win half the battle. Then I like to add pressed garlic, which adds a nice little kick. Then I add lemon juice — for the best flavor, I always use fresh, but store-bought will work too. Following this is balsamic vinegar, which, in my opinion, is a slightly better option than red wine vinegar. Finally, add black pepper and a pinch of salt. Be especially moderate with the salt and add it gradually because there is already a lot of salt in the feta cheese.

Then, thoroughly stir your salad using two spatulas. Taste it and add extra-virgin olive oil, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper, if needed.

Place the salad in a salad bowl or on individual plates and optionally drizzle with thick balsamic vinegar. If you have some extra, sprinkle the salad with extra feta crumbles, olives, and freshly ground salt and pepper. I love to serve my Greek salad with an herb baguette on the side.

Tom Slepicka is the founder of www.cookinghub.com, and is a recipe creator, culinary instructor, chef, and a consultant. You can reach him at tom@cookinghub.com.