Greek Salad

All things considered, the Greek salad is a modern invention, as it wasn’t until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that use of the tomato became popular in Greece. Traditional Greek meals always include a salad and other small, simple dishes to start the meal. These mini-dishes are called meze, and two common dishes are the tomato salad and feta cheese drizzled with olive oil and topped with dried oregano. It was in the mid-1960s that these two popular dishes came together in what’s called horiatiki, or “village” salad. Using the freshest, in-season vegetables, horiatiki most commonly includes tomato, cucumber, and onion with green bell peppers and capers common regional additions. True horiatiki did not include olives or vinegar—two ingredients found in American Greek salads.

It was through the large number of Greeks who immigrated to America in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that the Americanized version of Greek salad came into being. Many immigrants, particularly Greek immigrants, found work in restaurants and adapted classic Greek recipes for American tastes. The Greek salad we all know and love today includes the essential ingredients of tomato, onion, cucumber, olive oil, oregano and feta cheese, served over lettuce. Other ingredients common to Greek salads include Kalamata olives, green bell peppers, and red wine vinegar. Vibrant and fresh, the Greek salad is now an American classic.

Recipe Servings: 3