Greek Salad

It seems a little pointless to do a blog piece about a salad, but I must indulge in this one as it really hit a high note in the flavour stakes.  Along with the cuboids of the usual suspects that appear in a Greek salad line up is the dressing that just brings the whole thing together.  Many a time have I been quite unimpressed by the offerings at restaurants that are played up as Greek Salads.  While the vegetables and the feta are perfectly good, what is most lacking is the punchline delivered by the dressing.

I am making a point of the dressing as this time around I have really outdone myself even and stumbled upon a dressing that was simply delicious.  So good that I grabbed a plain pita loaf and mopped up the dressing leftovers from the bottom of the salad bowl.  The secret to a good Greek Salad dressing is really really good Olive Oil.  You want a nice fruity, green, probably expensive bottle that you keep under lock and key.  In my case I was fortunate to have such a bottle supplied to me from the grower himself.  You see, I work with an olive providore that grows and presses his own olive oil.  Each year the bountiful harvest of 10,000 plus olive trees are used to create olive products and this was my first real use of the good stuff.  The result is a deliciously green and fragrant oil, that once added to my salad dressing, there was no turning back.  Here's to Mr NC and his awesome olive grove.

Ingredients

For the dressing

¼ cup x Olive Oil (the very best you can find)

2 Tbsp x Red Wine Vinegar

1 tsp x Dried Oregano

Salt and Pepper to season

For the salad

2 x Cucumbers, 1 cm cubes

2 x Tomatoes, 1 cm cubes

1 x Red Onion, cut into rings

200g x Kalamata Olives

200g x Greek Feta, cut into cubes

Garnish

5-6 x Mint leaves x finely cut

3-4 sprigs x Fresh Oregano, leaves picked

Combine the dressing ingredients and stir to combine

Place all vegetables and feta into a large salad bowl

Drizzle the dressing over the salad 

Using your hands work the dressing over the salad

Garnish with the mint and oregano 

Place in the fridge until time to serve

Make sure you mop up the bottom of the bowl as the stuff there is pure gold...I tell ya!