If you are scrolling through my past few recipes, you may have recognized a theme: feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives.  That’s what we have in the house right now, and to me, these four ingredients can be combined into infinite, summery delights.  Today, I worked all four items into a perfect Greek salad, which was so good that it reminded me how delicious a fully-loaded salad can be.  Full of veggies but super satisfying, lots of different flavors and textures keeping each bite interesting, a classic Greek salad is the salad I want to keep eating for the season.

There are plenty of options here to make this salad more personalized.  Add pickled pepperoncini peppers for some briny spice!  Use different olives for color and flavor.  Dice up a large tomato instead of the cherry tomatoes.  Swap the lettuce for peppery arugula or nutrition-packed spinach or baby kale.  Swap the feta for any of your other favorite cheeses.  Add more protein by topping with chickpeas, sunflower seeds, or grilled chicken.  Change out the Italian dressing for oil and vinegar, or your favorite vinaigrette.  This version of Greek salad is onion and bell pepper free, but feel free to add those as well for a more authentic version (I’m personally not a huge raw onion or raw bell pepper fan, which is why they’re not here in my salad!).  With salads, the world is your oyster, and all toppings are a go!

This recipe will get you to a delightful, basic Greek salad that you can totally customize as you see fit.  The recipe down below makes enough for one big lunch serving of salad, which would probably be enough for two smaller side servings.  Scale it up or down based on your preferences and needs!

This salad stores well when made the day of, but if you’re planning on meal-prepping this salad, pack the dressing separately or add the morning of to prevent the lettuce from becoming soggy and the veggies from getting soft/wilted.  You should be good to go to add all of the lettuce, veggies, and feta into containers for up to a few days in advance, just remember to add dressing right before serving!

Recipe down below, photo up top!

Easy Greek Salad

Ingredients:

• 1 small head of lettuce, chopped
  • Sub for 1-2 cups pre-chopped lettuce
• 1 small cucumber, diced
• 6-8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 6-8 olives
• 2 oz (about 2 tbsp) feta cheese
• 1 tbsp Italian dressing

Method:

1. Wash and dry the lettuce thoroughly, as needed.  If starting with a whole head of lettuce, separate the leaves and roughly chop or tear into large bite-sized pieces (about 1-2 inches).  Place lettuce into a large bowl or container.
2. Wash and dry the cherry tomatoes, then slice each in half.  Add to the bowl with the lettuce.
3. Wash and dry the cucumbers, then chop into cubes or rounds (either is fine, totally based on preference!).  Add the cucumber pieces into the bowl with the lettuce and tomatoes.
4. If starting with a block of feta cheese, remove about 2 oz and crumble directly into the salad.  If using pre-crumbled feta cheese, add about 2 tbsp of feta cheese into the salad.
5. Add olives (fully drained) into the salad, along with the salad dressing.
6. Use your hands or tongs to toss to fully combine. 
7. Grab a fork and enjoy!