Plenty of lettuce variety to toss in a salad bowl

With the recent spate of higher temperatures and smothering humidity, we’ve replaced some of our protein-and-sides menus with salad-as-a-meal. Between farmers markets and roadside stands, there are plenty of lettuce varieties and tender vegetables to toss into the salad bowl. 

Restaurants are also heeding this interest in lighter fare, offering salads with a range of toppings. From a skewer of shrimp on baby spinach to crab cake on a bed of spring mix to spicy chicken wings with a blue-cheese laden iceberg wedge, you can creatively mix and match your ingredients. 

One salad typically found on the menu at casual restaurants and sandwich shops is called a Greek salad. You’ll be served a mountain of lettuce strewn with black olives, sliced cucumber, tomato wedges, red onion circles, chopped green pepper, feta cheese crumbles, pickled pepperoncini peppers and some sort of Greek or Balsamic vinegar dressing. 

As much as I enjoy this version, this is not a classic Greek salad as it would appear in traditional fashion on one of the island cities in Greece. A humble dish, seen at breakfast or lunch, it’s called horiatiki salata, which translates to village salad, country salad or peasant salad. 

The ingredients are not chopped into small pieces, but kept in nice chunks. Fresh tomato, cucumber and onion slices are tossed with salt and oregano. A large slice of feta is set on top and garnished with pitted Kalamata olives. It’s offered in a shallow bowl or plate, and a generous drizzle of olive oil serves as a simple dressing. 

This is a dish that showcases the finest fresh ingredients and deserves an excellent variety of feta cheese, not the supermarket containers of pre-crumbled bits. Although wedges of pita bread accompany a Greek salad in this country, in Greece you will enjoy a chunk of crusty bread to soak up the vegetable juice and savory olive oil. 

If you choose to make the American version of Greek salad, select romaine lettuce as your leafy green.

It has the right amount of crisp, crunchy texture to balance the juicy tomato, sharp onion and mild cucumber. Other lettuces are not as sturdy, and a spring mix has too much variety of pointy edges. 

Most of the romaine lettuce in the grocery stores comes from California, whether sold chopped in plastic bags of instant salad or as whole heads. Like cucumber, romaine lettuce can be affected by improper harvest, handling and packaging that lead to pathogen exposure. Another feature of romaine lettuce is its efficiency at absorbing toxic heavy metals from the soil. 

As a result, choose romaine lettuce freshly picked from a local grower, preferably one who follows organic farming practices. Look for tight heads with crisp, unwilted leaves.

Cut the base from the head to easily separate the leaves. After washing and drying, store them in the refrigerator wrapped in damp paper towels. Your romaine is now ready for its appearance in a salad near you.

Traditional Greek Salad 

2 ripe tomatoes 
1 cucumber 
1 small white onion 
1/2 t dried oregano 
1/4 t salt 
2-oz slice of feta cheese 
3 T pitted Kalamata olives 
2 T olive oil 

Cut the tomatoes into chunks and place in a shallow serving dish. Peel and slice the cucumber and onion; add to dish. Sprinkle vegetables with oregano and salt; toss to combine. Place the slice of feta on top and scatter olives across the dish. Drizzle olive oil over the dish. Serve with slices of crusty peasant bread. Yield: 2 servings.

Diner Greek Salad

1 head romaine lettuce 
2 ripe tomatoes 
1 cucumber 
1 small red onion 
1/2 green bell pepper 
6 pepperoncini peppers 
3/4 C olive oil 
1/4 C Balsamic vinegar 
1/2 t dried oregano 
salt and pepper, to taste 
1/4 C pitted Kalamata olives 
2/3 C crumbled feta cheese 

Cut the base from the head of lettuce. Separate the leaves and rinse thoroughly. Dry with paper towels or in a salad spinner. Stack the leaves on a cutting board and cut across the rib into 1-inch-thick slices. Place lettuce in a serving bowl. Cut the tomatoes into wedges and add to the bowl. Peel cucumber, slice thickly and cut each slice into quarters; add to the bowl.

Peel the onion; cut into slices and add. Cut the bell pepper into rounds and add. Cut the stems from the pepperoncini and add. Whisk together olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper. Pour over salad and toss to combine. Scatter feta cheese and olives over the top. Yield: 4 servings.