This salad is the perfect accompaniment for any lunch or dinner. Bright, vibrant and zingy! It can be enjoyed immediately or prepared in advance. The longer the dressing is left on, the more the flavours develop, so it simply gets better with time!
Ingredients
1 Beef tomato (sliced)
2 Plumb tomatoes (cut into wedges)
150g Cherry tomatoes, preferably different colours (halved)
1 Red onion
1 Cucumber
1 Pepper, green or yellow
Fresh Dill (roughly chopped)
Fresh Mint (roughly chopped)
Dried Oregano
100g Black olives, from a jar is fine
1tbsp Good quality red wine vinegar
3 tbsp Good quality olive oil
200g Block of feta cheese
1 lemon, zest and juice
Salt and Pepper
Method
Place all of your tomatoes, ideally all different shapes, sizes and colours, into a large bowl. This will be the base to your salads, with the irregular shapes and colours transforming this simple salad into something spectacular!
Roughly slice your cucumber into medium pieces, again different shapes or sized pieces will just add more interest to the salad. Toss into your bowl.
De-seed and thinly slice your pepper into strips and add to the bowl.
Remove the outer layers of your onion, halve and thinly slice to form crescent shapes. Place your onions into a sieve or colander and pour boiling water (approximately half a kettle) over the onions. Don't let your onions sit in the hot water, as you want them to retain their crunch. This method simply removes the bitter taste that onions have, leaving you with the sweet flavour. Add to the rest of your vegetables.
In a separate bowl, add the vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, zest, and your herbs, retaining some of the dill for decoration. Squeeze the olives over your dressing, gently squashing them. Add the slightly squashed olives to your main bowl. Season your dressing with salt and pepper to taste.
Toss your dressing through the vegetables until well covered.
Place your block of feta on top of your salad whole. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the top and sprinkle with the dried oregano and leftover dill.
