Greek Salad

 

I am a big fan of Greek food, and since the Greek Festival here in Halifax last Spring (2012) Steve too is a big fan (we even tried the stuffed grape leaves at the festival - something neither one of us had thought that we would ever do!). So when we saw that there was a recipe for Greek Salad in our new 'Cook This Not That: Easy & Awesome 350-Calorie Meals' cookbook we felt we needed to give it a try.

Unfortunately for us this dish was not delicious. It is rare that we will make a dish that we simply just do not like (and I thought that it was quite strange that I could not like a Greek Salad - it is not a difficult recipe), but I think that it was that the ingredients listed simply did not come in the appropriate ratios.

Here are all the ingredients that are suggested for this recipe:

2 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 large cucumber, peeled, seeded ad chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 can garbanzo beans (we used chick peas)
3/4 cup crumbled feta
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Here is how the recipe suggests that you bring it all together:

1.  Combine chicken, cucumber, pepper, tomatoes, onion, chick peas, and feta in a bowl.
2. In a separate bowl combine vinegar and oregano with salt and pepper, slowly drizzle in olive oil and whisk to combine.
3. Toss the dressing with the salad, let sit for 30 minutes and serve.

My thoughts on why this recipe did not taste the way it should was in large part because of the onion. Using a full red onion was just too overpowering and masked the flavours of all of the other ingredients. We are keen to try more Greek Salad recipes but are very quick to share that we will not be trying this recipe again... ever.