Greek Tomato Salad

I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen so many Facebook posts, and blog posts that are all like, “we went on vacation to this beautiful lush, tropical locale and I drank all these fun fruity little cocktails with umbrellas’ and I liked them so much that when I came home I had to make my own version.”

And then I’m over here like, uh I went to Wal-mart and bought raisin bran, and I was really good, I even put on mascara and put my hair in a ponytail before I left the house. Okay, I put on mascara and had a decent ponytail the first 5 times I went to Walmart this week, that last time though, I just wore sunglasses and walked real fast.

Pshh. Keeping it real today folks, keeping it real.

Talking bout real life, today’s recipe is inspired by a salad I eat almost every week through the summer– my grandma’s tomato salad. It’s not a fancy dish. It relies on the workhorses of most Midwesterner’s gardens; tomatoes, cucumbers. and onions. Grammy doesn’t get around well enough to have a full garden anymore, but that doesn’t keep her from having her share of fresh garden veggies. It also doesn’t stop her from making all of us lunch every Friday. Seems like  every week one of her friends has brought by goodies from their gardens knowing they’ll be put to good use.  I’ll warn you now, I’m sure my Grammy’s tomato salad is better than mine, because I know y’all will agree, just ain’t  nobody’s cooking that can come close to matching your grammy’s.

I took the base for grammy’s salad and put in a few flavors that I love to make this Greek tomato salad, but still kept it simple enough to let it’s country goodness shine. Fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, olives and feta come together with Greek vinaigrette for a quick and colorful summer side dish.

I love recipes that just get better the next day, don’t you? If only all leftovers were like that. Well this Greek tomato salad is a dish that tastes even better the next day when all the flavors have had a chance to mingle.

Perfect to bring along for a potluck or backyard barbecue, this salad goes well with most main dishes or is hearty enough that you could pile it on a pita for a vegetarian main dish.

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Greek Tomato Salad

Prep Time 10 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings 6

Author Amy D.

Ingredients

• 1 medium sized cucumber
• 1 small sweet yellow onion
• 1 yellow pepper
• 3-4 medium sized tomatoes , about 3 cups
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 2.25 ounce can sliced black olives or 1/4 cup sliced kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup Greek vinaigrette
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Chop the cucumber, onion, pepper, and tomatoes. Add in one can of drained sliced black olives or 1/4 cup of sliced kalamata olives, 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese, and 1/2 cup Greek vinaigrette. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well.

Recipe Notes

Although this salad can be eaten right after it's prepared, it tastes better after letting it set for an hour or two.