If zesty, tangy, and salty flavors please your palate, this salad is an excellent accompaniment to a summer lunch or dinner. Our Piedmont summer days are relatively mild, but plenty of my family and friends live where daytime temps soar above 100°F and a cold, refreshing salad may just make the meal.
Our farmers markets are brimming with all these vegetables. Tomatoes and cucumbers are at their peak, and every week into August I see more varieties and larger displays.
If feta cheese is not a common choice for you, I encourage bringing it into your rotation of cheeses to try. Traditionally made from sheep’s milk (or a combination of sheep and up to 30% goat’s milk) it is tangy and salty due to being brined. It’s a semi-hard cheese so crumbles and melts well too.
I prefer buying a small, plain block for ultimate flexibility in uses, over the myriad options of crumbled and cubed, plain and flavored. If you purchase your block of cheese packaged in its brine, be sure to save the brine to store any unused cheese. It will keep well in the refrigerator, so long as it’s completely submerged in brine.
My friend, Joan, who lives in Spain, prepares a vinaigrette-dressed version of this salad all summer. There she will add white asparagus and hearts of palm. When visiting her in summers past, we made a huge batch of a meal-in-one version that was perfectly convenient following a hot afternoon at the beach or hikes around the finca.
As always, I encourage you to experiment with different tastes and textures. Adding (or substituting) cubes of watermelon, avocado, and whole prepared garbanzo beans, pickled Greek peperoncini, or boiled new potatoes would be right at home here. Consider including a protein such as cold chicken, tuna, sliced hard boiled eggs, etc.
Summer Chopped Salad with Creamy Feta Dressing
Equipment
- Mini food processor, blender or handheld immersion blender to emulsify the dressing
Ingredients
For the dressing
- 3 ounces feta cheese cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1/2 cup Greek yogurt plain, whole milk
- 1 - 2 cloves garlic chopped, to taste
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
- 1 - 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar to taste
- 2 tablespoons whole milk more or less for desired consistency
- Freshly ground black pepper to taste
- Scant sea salt to taste (Remember feta is already salty.)
For the salad
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh red onions sliced (see note)
- 1 - 2 whole tomatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 - 2 whole cucumbers sliced into 3/4-inch pieces
- 1/2 cup Kalamata olives pitted and halved
- 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves chopped
Instructions
For the dressing
- Combine the first six ingredients into the bowl of a mini-food processor, blender jar, or small deep bowl if using a handheld blender. Start with a few pulses, then blitz until smooth. Add small amounts of milk, blending after each addition, until the dressing has a smooth, creamy consistency. Adjust seasoning, remembering you want a fairly strong flavor to "dress" the salad.
- Note: It will be up to you to determine the thick-or-thinness of the dressing with the amount of milk you add. I prefer mine about the consistency of ketchup.
Assemble the salad
- Put all the salad ingredients into a large bowl and stir gently to combine. Mix in creamy feta dressing to taste.
- Note: If you prefer to tame the bite from raw, red onions; marinate them in a simple mix of 1 tablespoon each of white wine vinegar and olive oil, plus salt and pepper. Set aside whilst you prepare the dressing and are ready to assemble the salad.
