This delicious, crunchy Greek-style mixed salad has all the ingredients of a traditional Greek salad – minus the feta. Crispy cucumber and ripe tomatoes, black olives, red onion, crunchy green pepper and salted capers. I added a bed of leafy mixed green salad to make it more filling, but there’s no vegan feta. As you probably already know, I’m not a great fan of vegan cheese, so I just left it out. I don’t know what it is about this salad, but I don’t miss the feta. The salted capers have that same salty tang that feta has, and all the other ingredients are there, so you don’t really miss it.
Salad isn’t just summer food, any day is salad day, as far as I’m concerned – even in winter. Sometimes I joke that it’s my favourite food. Well, perhaps not my favourite, but it’s definitely in the top 10. Plus, if you consider just how good those crunchy raw vegetables are for you, with all the enzymes that you can only find in raw food, I would have to put it in the top 5. And this Greek-style mixed salad is one of my favourites.
How to make Greek-style mixed salad
In mainland Greece, and on the islands, Greek salad is called Horiatiki (or Xoriatiki) by the locals, which means “village salad”. That means it’s rustic and made with local seasonal produce. A traditional Greek salad recipe will always (and only) include tomato, cucumber, green pepper, sliced red onion, Greek kalamata or green olives and, of course, feta cheese, which is off the menu here on Vegan Hot Stuff.
Season it with good quality extra virgin olive oil. The Greeks don’t go in for fancy dressings, so keep it simple – just olive oil and maybe a splash of red wine vinegar. Go easy on the salt because olives and capers are already quite salty.
I’ve always loved Greek salad, ever since I first ate it when I visited my uncle on the island of Crete when I was in my early twenties. That memorable trip, and many others over the years to other Greek islands like Santorini, Mykonos, Kefalonia, Corfu, and Paros, among others, helped put Greek food high on my list of favourites! I adore moussaka, papoutsakia, tzatziki, dolmades, kolokithokeftedes, gemista and spanakopita! Of course, I’ve veganised the ones that traditionally had meat, eggs or dairy in them. And I promise you, they’re just as tasty as the originals! Look out for them coming up on my blog!
Now, let’s get back to this Greek-style salad which is a great accompaniment to all those delicious dishes I just mentioned!
Ingredients
- Leafy mixed green salad
- Tomatoes (cut large ones into segments or chunks, cut small ones in half)
- Cucumber (cut into chunks or slices)
- Green pepper (cut into strips)
- Red onion (cut into thin slices)
- Greek kalamata olives (or other black or green olives)
- Salted capers (rinsed, squeezed dry, and roughly chopped)
Preparation and seasoning
- Put a handful of leafy mixed green salad on a plate and spread it out.
- Arrange the chunks of tomato and cucumber over the mixed-leaf salad.
- Sprinkle the slices of green pepper and red onion over the tomatoes and cucumber.
- Rinse the salted capers well under running water and squeeze them dry.
- Roughly chop the capers and sprinkle them over the salad.
- Add some kalamata olives (or other black or green olives).
- Season with extra virgin olive oil, a little red wine vinegar (optional), and a pinch of salt.
How to serve this Greek-style mixed salad
Serve this delicious crunchy Greek-style mixed salad as a side dish to a Greek main course like vegan moussaka, papoutsakia, dolmades, kolokithokeftedes, gemista and spanakopita.
It’s also great as a light, healthy lunch bowl. Add a couple of slices of sourdough bread, or your favourite brand of vegan feta, to make it more filling.
How to store leftovers
Any salad which has been seasoned with salt and oil won’t last very long – at the most, a couple of hours in the fridge. It goes limp quickly and water comes out of the vegetables due to the process of osmosis. If the salad hasn’t been seasoned, it will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for a couple of days.
Greek-style mixed salad
10
minutesA Greek-inspired crunchy mixed salad that’s got everything a traditional Greek salad has, except for the feta. Delicious and full of healthy vitamins and minerals!
Recipe by Deborah, veganhotstuff.com
Ingredients
mixed leaf green salad
tomatoes
cucumber
green pepper
red onion
Greek kalamata olives
salted capers
- For the seasoning
extra virgin olive oil
red wine vinegar (optional)
unrefined sea salt
Directions
- Put a handful of mixed-leaf salad on a plate and spread it out.
- Cut large tomatoes into segments or chunks. Cut small ones in half.
- Cut the cucumber into chunks or thick slices.
- Cut the green pepper into thin slices.
- Thinly slice the red onion.
- Rinse the salted capers and squeeze them dry.
- Roughly chop the capers
- Arrange the chunks of tomato and cucumber over the mixed-leaf salad.
- Sprinkle the slices of green pepper and red onion over the tomatoes and cucumber.
- Sprinkle the chopped capers and kalamata olives over the salad.
- Season with extra virgin olive oil, a little red wine vinegar (optional), and a pinch of salt.
- Serve with some good bread (like my 4-seed sourdough bread you can see in the photos).
Notes
- See the notes above in the main blog post.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! If you try it and like it, leave a comment below – I’d love to hear from you!
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