- Are you guys ready for one of the best healthy salad recipes? And, side note, one of
my personal favorites? It's a Greek Salad and
with only six ingredients plus one super-flavorful dressing, it's really hard to
beat this classic salad. There's just something so wonderful about the simplicity of it. I'll give you a few tips in the video for making and meal prepping
the best Greek Salad and I'll show you how to turn this salad that's often an appetizer or a side salad into a heartier full meal. So let's dive right in. As I mentioned, there's just a
handful of ingredients needed for a classic Greek Salad, also known as Horiatiki, and
the first one is cucumber. I'm using an English cucumber
rather than a field cucumber as I'm leaving the skin on, and an English cucumber has
a naturally thinner skin. These are the cucumbers
that you'll often find wrapped in plastic at the market and that's because their
thinner skin is more fragile. Now, I realized about
halfway through slicing that it would have been
far easier and more logical to slice the cucumber lengthwise
first, then slice across. But I decided to slice across first which means that I'll then
just stack a bunch of slices on top of each other and
cut them in two quarters. But either way works. Once you've got the cucumber sliced up, add it to a large mixing bowl. And since I've been
getting lots of questions on the little food scraper that I use to scoop veggies into my
bowl, I've now linked it in the description box below. It is super-cheap and very handy. Next up is one bell pepper, and while you could really use any color I'm opting for green today. Just slice the top and
bottom off the bell pepper and remove the seeds, slice
the bell pepper into strips, and then across for a fairly chunky dice. Unlike other recipes where
I'll dice veggies fairly small, this Greek Salad is best when
everything is pretty chunky. Not only does it give it more of a rustic, farm-to-table vibe, but it's also easier
to eat with your fork. Don't forget to slice up the
edible parts around the stem on the top and bottom because
we don't want any food waste, and then add the bell
pepper to your mixing bowl. Next up is one pint of grape tomatoes and just slice those in half. If you've got juicy and fresh
tomatoes from your garden feel free to swap those in as well and slice them into large chunks. The key takeaway with
a Greek Salad is just that everything is as fresh as it can be so that the handful of
simple flavors really shines. So once your tomatoes are sliced up, add them to the bowl with
the other ingredients. In terms of the onion for this salad, I've seen shallots, white
onion, and red onion used but red onion is
definitely more authentic. You'll need half of a medium red onion, and once it's sliced in half
and the skin is removed, I like to cut it into thin wedges, sliced top to bottom through the root end. I think this gives a prettier presentation to the final salad rather
than slicing it across as I normally would when I
want thin slices of an onion or before I'm about to dice it. But again, either way works so you do you. And before adding the onion to the bowl, I'll just gently break
apart the red onion pieces. Of course, you can't
make a Greek Salad recipe without olives, so
that's next on our list. You'll need half a cup
of pitted Kalamata olives and I like to slice them in half though I know from Greek friends that it's also common
to keep the olives whole and that aligns with a common
theme throughout this salad that big, chunky pieces are best. My Greek downshifters
watching this video in Greece will have to chime in
on the comments below about whether they slice their
olives or keep them whole and whether they use Kalamata
olives or green olives. And last but certainly not
least, is the feta cheese. Make sure you buy a
high-quality Greek feta cheese that's cut into blocks. Don't use pre-crumbled feta for this salad if you can help it. I know it's easy but I don't
really think the flavor compares which is probably due
to the anti-caking additives added to those tubs of crumbled cheese. Plus, when you've got
a large block of feta, about four ounces or so, you
can either slice it into cubes or crumble it yourself into large chunks. And now for the dressing. The reality is that authentic Greek Salads are often just drizzled
with high-quality olive oil and red wine vinegar. It's simple and easy but I'm making my homemade
Greek Salad dressing that's more of a vinegarette and similar to what you'd find in
bottles at the supermarket. To make that, add a
third-cup red wine vinegar to a bowl along with
the juice of one lemon, one teaspoon of Dijon mustard,
two minced garlic cloves, half a teaspoon of dried oregano, a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt, and a quarter teaspoon of black pepper. Then while you're whisking that together, you can drizzle in half a cup of olive oil until it's emulsified. Now, fun fact, Greek Salads are often
not mixed before serving. A single serving is just a
plate with a pile of veggies. a chunk of feta cheese on top, and a sprinkle of dried oregano. But as this is a family-sized and meal prep-ready
version of Greek Salad, I'm gonna go ahead and lightly stir it up with a drizzle of the dressing. If I'm serving it up for
family or a dinner party I'll transfer it to a prettier bowl and then leave the remaining
dressing on the side in case some folks would like to add more. And the beauty of this salad is that because there's no leafy greens
or anything that will wilt, it's the perfect salad to meal
prep because it's durable. The simple mix of ingredients makes it the perfect appetizer
salad or light lunch. But for those who crave
something a bit heartier with more protein, there's two ways you
can enhance this salad that's not so traditional or authentic, but still very tasty, and the first is by adding chicken. If you've made my Herb-Baked
Chicken Breast recipe from my website or my
very first meal prep video that now has over 16 million views, this recipe will look familiar and it's the Baked Chicken Breast that I personally make most often. Just drizzle the chicken with
a little bit of olive oil and rub it in on both sides. Then sprinkle a bunch of herbs. I honestly never measure
the herbs and just sprinkle a combo of basil, thyme, and oregano along with salt and pepper. You could also add garlic
powder if you'd like. Once the herbs are rubbed into both sides, just bake the chicken at
425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 to 25 minutes, depending
on the size of your chicken. Then remove it from the oven, let it rest for a few minutes and slice it up into strips or chunks. You can always keep the chicken in a separate storage
container in the fridge, and for those who want
to add it to their salad they can add a portion of
the Greek Salad into a bowl and then top it with a
portion of the chicken. Then for more healthy fats to fill you up, you can add about a quarter of
an avocado and dice that up. This is honestly one of my
favorite summertime lunches or dinners that fills me
up without weighing me down and it just exudes freshness
even when it's meal prepped. (upbeat music) Now, if you're vegetarian, there's a really easy option
for you in adding protein and that's by adding canned beans. I love adding either
garbanzo beans or white beans and both of these are loaded with about seven grams
of protein per half cup. So choose whichever
beans are your favorite, then make sure you drain
and rinse them well to remove that slimy, starchy
residue from being in the can. Of course, you can use soaked
and cooked beans as well though canned is always quick and easy. Similar to the diced chicken,
you can store the beans in a separate container in
the fridge for the week. And again, whoever wants beans
added to their Greek Salad can add them to an individual portion. I'm also adding avocado to
this version to plump it up but also just because I'm an avocado lover and feel like it's always
a welcome addition. No matter how you serve this Greek Salad, either as a traditional Greek Salad or a modified version with extra protein, it is delicious and a recipe
you should definitely have on repeat during summer. If you enjoy today's video,
please do hit that like button as it helps to support my channel. Share this recipe with
your family and friends for a little healthy inspiration and I will see you
again in the next video. (upbeat music)
