Oompa! Simple, Sassy Greek Salad

I wish I was Greek, because you know, they’re cool – with their protective eye charms and pita bread
and olive-oily goodness. But I’m not Greek. Instead I’m some muddling
of Austrian, Swedish, Danish and Czech… but I can still make good Greek
food! Below is my recipe and pix of some greek salad, a favorite of
mine that is simple to make but a little time consuming due to the
large volume of chopping. Or you could just cheat and buy bagged
romaine and chopped onions. But I think it’s better fresh.
Enjoy.

Ingredients:

• 2 heads romaine lettuce
• 2 green peppers, 1 yellow bell pepper
• 4 small tomatos
• 3 persian cucumbers (or one big one)
• 1 small red onion
• crumbled feta cheese (available in the deli or cheese aisle, look for the brand “ATHENOS”)
• olives (I like pitted kalmatas from the deli – you can use the
  cheap-o black ones in a can but it will taste infinitely better with
  some quality olives…)

This recipe is simple in the way that all you do is CHOP and DICE
the cucumbers, bell peppers, tomato and red onion. Cut or tear the
romaine into bite sized chunks, being careful not to use too much of
the white rind at the bottom of the romaine heart (that’s bitter).
Rinse the romaine to remove any leftover dirt or grit, and dry.
(Romaine grows in sand and if you don’t wash it, it can taste like
you’re licking a sandbox) Mix everything together with some coarse sea
salt and pepper.

Make the dressing -

• Red wine vinegar
• olive oil
• garlic (Dried, pureed,granulated, fresh, powder..whatever)

• pepper, sea salt, oregano or italian seasoning

Mix all of the above into a bowl or salad cruet. Use 2 parts vinegar
to 1/2 part oil. How big your “parts” are depends on how much you want
to make. I usually do a cup of vinegar to or 1/4 cup oil.  Shake it all
together and season to your liking.

Crumble some feta cheese on top of the veggies, garnish with some
olives. An optional but totally recommended choice is to squeeze lemon
juice from a fresh wedge over the top. Pour on some dressing, ravage it
with your fork and go to Greek-town. OOMPA!