This Mediterranean salad is recent, crunchy, and filled with daring, Greek-style flavors. Made with crisp veggies, feta, herbs, and a zesty, lemony French dressing!
If there was a salad recipe I’d make day-after-day, it’s this one! I nonetheless bear in mind the primary time I ordered a basic Greek salad on a visit to Greece with Alex. The mix of crisp veggies with salty feta and olives was one of the refreshing issues I’d ever tasted.
Right here’s a inexperienced salad that’s based mostly on these flavors! This Mediterranean salad recipe is a recent inexperienced salad with Greek-style flavors (with romaine lettuce, not pasta or grain-based), with crunchy greens, briny olives, salty feta, and a brilliant lemony French dressing. It’s good as a lightweight lunch or aspect dish that takes simply 20 minutes: or, you’ll be able to prime it with hen, salmon, shrimp, or tofu for a satisfying dinner concept!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
Listed here are a number of causes I believe you’ll love this recipe:
- Daring flavors: The home made Greek French dressing with the salty feta cheese, briny olives, and recent herbs make scrumptious layers of taste
- Fast prep time: With a prep time of simply 20 minutes and no cooking required, it’s a quick and straightforward choice
- Customizable: Serve it as a aspect inexperienced salad, or prime it with protein to make it into dinner!
Components You’ll Want
There are a lot of methods to make a Mediterranean salad, and right here’s my spin! It’s one in all my favourite Mediterranean weight loss plan recipes that pairs with virtually any meal. Right here’s what you’ll want:
- Romaine lettuce: I just like the crunch of romaine. If you need to substitute, use butter lettuce.
- Cucumber, onion, and tomato: These greens additionally star within the well-known Greek salad.
- Kalamata olives: Kalamata olives are key, however you’ll be able to swap in different varieties like Castelvetrano.
- Feta cheese: Feta is vital right here for the briny salty taste, and it’s evocative of a Greek salad. You possibly can omit it for vegan diets (or use vegan feta, bought or home made).
- Recent Herbs: I’m obsessive about recent dill on this salad: it provides this brilliant, barely candy taste. Recent parsley, basil, or cilantro all work too.
- Dressing: I really like this salad with our Greek salad dressing, however you may as well use Italian dressing or tahini sauce.
The right way to Make a Mediterranean Salad
This Mediterranean salad recipe takes about 20 minutes to make. Listed here are the essential steps (or bounce to the recipe):
Step 1: Chop the greens into bite-sized items. I prefer to maintain all the pieces roughly comparable in measurement so that you get a little bit of all the pieces in every forkful.
Step 2: In a medium bowl, whisk the pink wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, oregano, elective garlic, and salt in a medium sized bowl. Regularly whisk within the olive oil.
Step 3: Add the recent elements to a plate or bowl, topping with feta cheese and recent herbs. Prime with dressing and serve.
Professional Tip: The important thing to avoiding a soggy salad is all about timing. Add the salad dressing simply earlier than you’re able to eat, not earlier than. When you gown it too early, the lettuce will wilt and launch water.
Variations & Substitutions
The right way to combine up this Mediterranean salad recipe? First, you’ll be able to add totally different greens or swap in numerous dressings. Listed here are a number of concepts:
- Chickpeas or white beans: So as to add vegan protein, add drained and rinsed chickpeas or white beans
- Veggie swaps: Add recent chopped pink or inexperienced bell pepper and even sliced roasted bell peppers. Chopped artichokes add a tangy aptitude. You may also combine in a little bit of uncooked broccoli florets, and even steamed cauliflower.
- Grains: Including cooked quinoa makes a heartier salad.
- Dressing: Attempt Tahini Sauce, Italian Dressing, our primary French dressing Recipe, or Lemon French dressing as an alternative.
Protein Add-Ins
This Mediterranean salad pairs properly with lean proteins to make it right into a wholesome dinner concept: the intense, acidic French dressing and recent veggies completement a protein completely. Right here’s how I usually add protein to make it an entire meal:
- Hen: Contemplate topping with grilled hen or pan seared hen
- Salmon: Attempt baked salmon or seared salmon.
- Shrimp: Go for sauteed shrimp, grilled shrimp, or shrimp kabobs.
- Tofu: Make baked tofu or crispy tofu. I really like tofu on a salad: if you happen to salt it sufficient it virtually tastes like feta!
- Canned Tuna: For a fast lunch, add some canned tuna to show this right into a Mediterranean tuna salad.
Serving Concepts
This Mediterranean-style salad could be very versatile. Right here’s when and the way I serve it:
- As a Aspect Dish: It is a nice salad to serve with lasagna or any pasta dish. It’s additionally implausible alongside grilled hen, grilled salmon or grilled shrimp at summer time barbecues.
- For Weeknight Dinners: I make this usually as a straightforward aspect for easy proteins. It pairs with baked hen thighs, baked tilapia, or perhaps a frittata.
- At Potlucks and Events: That is nice for bringing to a celebration! Serve it alongside hummus and heat pita bread.
- With Wine or Non-Alcoholic Pairings: A crisp white wine like Sauvignon Blanc or a dry rosé is ideal right here! Or pair with glowing water with lemon or iced inexperienced tea.
Storage & Make-Forward Ideas
If you wish to make this Mediterranean salad forward, you’ll be able to chop the greens upfront and make the dressing, storing each in separate containers. It’s finest to chop the tomato as near serving as attainable. When serving, permit the dressing to return to room temperature, then assemble the salad.
For storing leftover salad, leftovers with dressing final for as much as 1 day refrigerated (dressed salads do change into soggy over time).
Dietary Notes
This Mediterranean salad is vegetarian and gluten-free. For plant-based, vegan and dairy-free, omit the feta cheese.
Continuously Requested Questions
A conventional Greek salad (or Horiatiki) doesn’t embrace lettuce: it’s simply chunky tomatoes, cucumbers, pink onion, olives, and a big slab of feta cheese with olive oil and oregano.
A Mediterranean salad, then again, normally begins with a lettuce base (usually romaine) and consists of comparable veggies however in a chopped format. It’s extra of an Americanized interpretation of Greek and Mediterranean flavors.
Sure! This Mediterranean salad recipe is full of nutrient-dense elements. The veggies present fiber, nutritional vitamins, and minerals. The additional virgin olive oil is wealthy in heart-healthy fats (see Olive Oil vs Vegetable Oil). The primary issues to observe are sodium from the olives and feta, and you’ll management that by adjusting quantities.
The most important mistake is including the dressing too early, which makes all the pieces soggy. All the time gown proper earlier than serving. Additionally, don’t skip the recent herbs! Dried simply doesn’t provide you with that very same brilliant, vibrant taste. Lastly, be sure your lettuce is totally dry after washing: extra water makes all the pieces soggy.
The basic alternative is a lemon French dressing made with pink wine vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, and dried oregano (just like the one on this recipe).
Different nice choices embrace a tahini-based dressing for creaminess, a Greek yogurt dressing with lemon and garlic powder, or a easy Italian dressing. I’ve even used my Greek salad dressing interchangeably.
Mediterranean Salad
This Mediterranean salad is recent, crunchy, and filled with daring, Greek-style flavors. Made with crisp veggies, feta, herbs, and a zesty, lemony French dressing!
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Prepare dinner Time: 0 minutes
- Complete Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Class: Salad
- Technique: Uncooked
- Delicacies: Salad
- Weight loss program: Vegetarian
Components
- 8 cups lettuce, chopped into chew sized items
- ⅓ cup olives, sliced in half
- 1/2 English cucumber, chopped
- 2 small tomatoes or 1 cup cherry tomatoesÂ
- ½ cup feta cheese
- ¼ cup sliced pink onion
- 1 handful chopped or torn recent herbs (dill, basil, cilantro or parsley)
- 1 recipe Greek Salad Dressing:
- 1 tablespoon pink wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano or za’atar
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
- Chop the recent greens as famous above.
- In a medium bowl, whisk collectively the pink wine vinegar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, oregano, kosher salt and black pepper. Regularly whisk within the olive oil, including 1 tablespoon at a time and whisking till it incorporates, till an emulsion types. Serve instantly. Retailer refrigerated and produce to room temperature earlier than serving (retains a minimum of 2 weeks). The dressing might separate after sitting which is okay; merely whisk once more earlier than serving.
- To serve, place the greens on a plate. Prime with the greens, then feta crumbles and herbs. Drizzle with the specified quantity of dressing and serve.
Notes
Substitutions: Add drained, rinsed chickpeas or white beans for further protein. Chopped bell peppers, roasted pink peppers, or artichoke hearts all work fantastically. For a grain-based model, add cooked quinoa. You possibly can substitute the lemon French dressing with Tahini Sauce or Italian dressing.
Protein Add-Ins: Prime with grilled hen, baked salmon, sautéed shrimp, or crispy tofu to make this an entire meal.
Make-Forward Ideas: Retailer the chopped greens and dressing individually in hermetic containers for as much as 5 days. Wait to chop the tomatoes and add the dressing till proper earlier than serving to keep up the most effective texture and keep away from sogginess.
Vegan Possibility: Omit the feta cheese or use a vegan feta various.