Authentic Greek Village Salad (Horiatiki)

About This Recipe

Authentic Greek salad — horiatiki ('village' in Greek) — has no lettuce. The dish is built on chunks of perfectly ripe tomato, cucumber, red onion, green pepper, Kalamata olives, with a single slab of feta on top, dressed only with olive oil, dried oregano, salt and a splash of red wine vinegar. This is one of the world's great no-cook summer salads — the entire dish depends on the quality of the tomatoes, the olive oil, and the feta.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4 largeripe tomatoes(ideally on-the-vine, cut into wedges)
• 1 largecucumber(preferably Mediterranean, halved and sliced)
• 1 mediumred onion(thinly sliced into rings)
• 1green bell pepper(thinly sliced into rings)
• 150 gKalamata olives(with stones for authenticity)
• 200 gblock feta cheese(preferably Greek PDO)
• 60 mlextra-virgin olive oil(Greek if possible)
• 1 tbspred wine vinegar
• 2 tspdried Greek oregano
• 0.5 tspfine sea salt(or to taste)
• freshly cracked black pepper(to taste)

Instructions

1. 1

   Prep the vegetables

   Cut the tomatoes into thick wedges (8 per tomato) — DON'T dice; chunky is the Greek way. Halve the cucumber lengthwise and slice into 1cm half-moons. Slice the red onion and green pepper into rings.

2. 2

   Soak the onion (optional)

   If the onion is sharp, soak the slices in ice water for 5 minutes, then drain. This softens the bite.

3. 3

   Combine in a wide bowl

   In a wide shallow bowl or platter, combine tomato, cucumber, onion and green pepper. Scatter olives over the top.

4. 4

   Top with the slab of feta

   Place the WHOLE BLOCK of feta on top — not crumbled. Crumbling is non-Greek; the slab is the visual signature of horiatiki.

5. 5

   Dress simply

   Drizzle generously with olive oil. Splash with red wine vinegar. Sprinkle abundantly with dried oregano, salt and pepper.

6. 6

   Serve immediately

   Bring to the table whole. Each diner breaks off feta with their fork as they eat. Serve with crusty bread to soak up the tomato juices and oil mixed with feta brine that pools at the bottom.

Variations

• •

  With Capers: scatter 2 tbsp drained capers over the top.

• •

  With Anchovies: lay 6 anchovy fillets across the feta — Greek tavernas sometimes do this.

• •

  Without Pepper: green pepper is divisive; some omit. Both versions are authentic.

Storage

Best eaten immediately. Components keep separately for 1 day.

Frequently Asked Questions