Bring A Taste Of Greece To Your Table With The Best Greek Salad

It seems like everyone I know is traveling to Greece this summer—that is everyone, but me.

And, I have to admit that I have a little FOMO. The gorgeous photos and stories with sparkling blue water and mouth-watering fresh food make me want to experience Greek food even if I am only traveling in my mind.

The many fabulous Greek restaurants that I have been to in the states made me a longtime fan of the Horiatiki salad. In Greek, Horiatiki means village. I’ve been told that the name of the salad translates to Greek farmer’s salad or peasant salad, and the name is thought to be derived from the simple salad that villagers would make from their vegetable gardens—onions, cucumbers, vine-ripe tomatoes, etc.

Today, it is served all over Greece, and at Greek restaurants and diners in the USA. I first ordered the salad many years ago in Chicago’s Greektown and fell in love with it immediately. It’s all the best things in a salad minus the lettuce. That means crisp cucumbers, juicy ripe slightly acidic tomatoes—I like to use cherry tomatoes split in half—red onions, colorful bell peppers, creamy feta cheese, and salty olives, a splash of red wine vinegar, olive oil and oregano.

To me, the combination of the refreshing crisp cold vegetables with the salty cheese and olives, and the tang of the red wine vinegar peppered with dried oregano is a perfect salad. I like to top the salad with a generous dollop of garlicky tzatziki. It acts as a creamy dressing and adds another layer of flavor.

These days, tzatziki is so popular that you can buy it pre-made but do yourself a favor and make your own. The difference is like night and day. While you are cutting cucumbers for the salad, save about 4 inches of a cucumber and dice it into small cubes for the tzatziki. The hardest part of making the cucumber-garlic-yogurt dip is straining the yogurt to remove the excess moisture (whey). Instead, buy Greek yogurt which is already strained or use the Middle Eastern yogurt “cheese” called Labne. Some people add fresh dill or other herbs to their tzatziki but I generally make it simply with diced cucumber, garlic, olive oil, lemon and salt and pepper. It keeps in the refrigerator for about a week and gets better as it sits.

This is a salad that I can eat over and over again. If you want to make a meal out of it, add a grilled boneless skinless chicken breast. If you want to get “fancy” pound it out and turn it into a “paillard.” But it eats just as good if you grill it without pounding it.

You can serve the whole thing in one dish like I do and eat it just as one would eat any salad with the addition of chicken. It’s colorful and bursting with flavor. This is a dish that insures that you eat all your veggies in a delicious summer fashion.

Chicken Paillard with Greek Farmer’s Salad and Tzazaki

If you aren’t traveling in real time to Greece this summer, you can bring a taste of Greece to your table with this dish. A Greek Farmer’s (Horatiki) Salad that savors the best of summer gardens and Farmer’s markets. The salad is great on it’s own, but topped with the grilled lemon-oregano chicken, it becomes a special summer meal bursting with flavor.

Grilling Method: Direct/Medium Heat

Serves 4-6

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves

Olive oil

Lemon Oregano Wet Rub:

2 large cloves of garlic, minced

Zest of two lemons

1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt

¼ teaspoon water

½ teaspoon ground pepper

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lemon, cut into wedges

Strips of lemon zest for garnishing, optional

Garlic-Cucumber Yogurt Sauce (Tzatsiki); (below)

Greek Farmers Salad (below)

Special Equipment: rolling pin or meat pounder

1. Preheat the grill.

2. Blot each chicken breast with a paper towel, remove tenderloin if still attached. Brush lightly with oil on both sides (this will make the pounding easier). Place each chicken breast between two pieces of parchment or waxed paper about 8” x 8”. Using a rolling pin or meat pounder, flatten each breast to about an even ¼-inch thickness. Set aside. If you don’t feel like pounding the chicken, skip this step.

3. Mix garlic, lemon zest, salt and water in a mortar or a shallow bowl. Grind with the pestle or the back of a fork. Add pepper and oregano and grind again to mix. Divide mixture into 4 equal portions.

4. Brush each piece of chicken “paillard” with olive oil on both sides. Spread each piece with a quarter of the wet rub mixture on both sides with clean fingers or a butter knife, making sure to coat evenly. (Note: the rub is very flavorful and will be too strong if left in clumps on the pieces of chicken.)

5. Using tongs, place the paillards on the cooking grate directly over the heat for about 6-8 minutes, turning once halfway through the cooking time. When the chicken is marked and cooked through, remove from the grill.

6. Immediately squirt 1-2 lemon wedges over each piece of chicken and let sit for 2-3 minutes. Garnish with lemon zest, if desired. Serve topped with Tzatziki sauce and a Greek Farmers’ Salad.

Garlic-Cucumber Yogurt Sauce (Tzatziki)

I make tzatziki from whole-milk strained yogurt—you could use Labne as well.

Makes about 2 cups

2 cups plain yogurt, preferably Greek yogurt

½ medium seedless cucumber, peeled and diced

3 cloves of garlic, grated with a microplane

1-2 tablespoons Extra-Virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper to taste

1. If using regular yogurt, Place the yogurt in a strainer set over a large bowl. Allow to drain overnight in the refrigerator. Discard liquid. If using thick Greek yogurt, you can skip this step.

2. In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt with the diced cucumber, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and fresh ground pepper. Mix well. Refrigerate before serving.

Tip: Make the Tzatziki up to three days in advance. The flavors intensify and actually taste better once they’ve had a chance to meld. Just be sure to stir before using as the cucumbers give up their juice as they sit.

Garlic Tip: The older the garlic, the stronger it tastes. If your garlic is a little past its prime but hasn’t started sprouting yet, you can still use it, just reduce the quantity by half if you don’t like a strong garlic flavor. Likewise, if you love the taste of garlic and your garlic is extremely fresh and firm, increase the amount of garlic for a more pronounced flavor.

Greek Farmers Salad (Horatiki)

The vegetables in this salad will keep for several days in a well covered container in the refrigerator which makes it convenient for weekday meals. You can prep it in advance, and it will be ready to assemble when you are ready to eat your salad.

Serves 4-6

1 12-ounce container cherry tomatoes, cut in half

1 European (long seedless) cucumber, peeled and cut into ½-inch chunks

1 yellow, orange or red bell pepper cut into strips

1 small red onion, cut in half and sliced into semi-circle rings

20 oil cured black olives, more or less to taste

Kosher salt

Freshly-ground pepper

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1-2 ounces feta cheese, cut into slices.

1. Wash tomatoes and cut in half.

2. Wash cucumbers and cut ends off cucumbers and discard. Slice cucumbers into a salad bowl and add tomatoes.

3. Add sliced onions and olives. Mix well and season with salt, pepper and dried oregano.

4. If using the feta cheese, serve Greek style with the cheese laid on top in thick slices or cut into big chunks.

5. Serve with chicken paillard and tzatziki immediately.