Below, you will find some of my delicious salads, for every season, time and occasion. These best salad recipes make eating colorful, fresh foods easy and delicious.
The days of boring salad ideas are over!
I feel that salads are very neglected here in my blog, not that we do not eat salads but as I do not post as often as I would like, I focus more on other recipes.
The most common salad we eat nearly every day is of course the simplest form of Greek Salad, which is tomato, cucumber, feta with Greek olive oil, vinegar and oregano.
Today, I am going to over load you with vitamins but I still have many more salads waiting patiently to be published. Some of them have been rejected, not that they were not great salads but I added the vinaigrette and then took the photos and they are not very photogenic, so in most of the ones I have posted, the vinaigrette was added later on.
I make my own infused olive oil with different herbs and spices. In this one I used agourelaio (the first olive oil pressed from olives which has not yet matured) but you can use a good quality olive oil, rosemary, garlic and mixed peppercorns. This olive oil becomes quite peppery and aromatic in a few days and I use it mainly in salads .
Note:
Vegetables like lettuce or rocket are torn in big pieces by hand.
Whenever I use garlic in the vinaigrette I blend it in the food processor but you can pound the garlic with a mortar and pestle and then mix in the remaining ingredients.
Wherever I mention green onion, I use the green part as well, provided it is tender.
Instead of craisins you can use raisins. I use craisins because some members of the family don’t eat them.
These salads are for 3 – 4 persons.
Wild Rocket and Lettuce salad
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4 – 5
Ingredients:
5 – 6 lettuce leaves
2- 3 cups wild rocket
2 spring onions, finely chopped
2 – 3 tablespoons cashew nuts
1 tablespoon cranberries
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
Croutons (a handful)
Vinaigrette
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
4 Tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to personal taste
Freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic
Directions:
Wash and dry (or spin) all the vegetables.
Prepare the croutons.
Tear the lettuce and arrange in a large flat plate. Add the rocket and the spring onions. Add the nuts and craisins as well as the croutons. Season with salt and mix. Arrange the tomatoes on top.
In a food processor or blender mix all the vinaigrette ingredients together.
Drizzle the vinaigrette over salad and mix.
Purple Cabbage, Carrot and Coriander Salad
Ingredients
1 cup of purple cabbage, chopped or sliced
3 carrots peeled and grated or shredded
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped
½ cup of roasted pine nuts
100 grams Greek feta
¼ cup of craisins
Salad dressing
Juice of 1 lemon
2 – 3 tablespoons infused extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
¼ teaspoon salt
Freshly grated black pepper
Directions:
Cut the purple cabbage and shred the carrots. Mix in the cilantro and the spring onion. In a non stick frying pan add a few drops of olive oil and roast the pine nuts. Add them on top of the vegetables. Crumble feta cheese and prepare salad dressing. Finally pour dressing over the salad and grind some fresh black pepper over the top.
Or a much simpler but still delicious salad
Purple Cabbage and Carrot Salad
2 cups cabbage, finely cut
2 carrots grated
1/2 green apple, finely cut
Extra virgin infused aromatic olive oil
Lemon juice (or red wine vinegar if you like)
Salt
Lettuce salad
Ingredients:
Tender lettuce leaves
1 tablespoon capers
Pomegranate seeds
Walnuts and cranberries
Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons lemon juice
5 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 – 3 slices of pickled beetroots (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to personal taste
1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1 clove garlic, crushed
Lettuce Salad with Anchovies
Lettuce leaves
Tomato
1 green onion, finely chopped
Kalamta olives
Pickled beetroots
Gherkins or capers
Marinated Anchovies
Vinaigrette
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp oregano
Potato Salad with beets, coriander and rocket
2 potatoes boiled with skin and peeled
1 cup of fresh coriander
1 cup of rocket
4 – 5 slices pickled beets
2 – 3 gherkins
2 green onions chopped
Vinaigrette
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
Salt
Freshly grated black pepper
1 clove garlic
Lettuce, Rocket and strawberries vinaigrette
Lettuce
Rocket
Spring onions
Parsley and dill
Cherry Tomatoes
Strawberries
Vinaigrette
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
4 strawberries
1 tablespoon honey
1 clove garlic
Marinated Chicken breasts
2 chicken breasts marinated with Salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil and lemon zest and juice. You can cook it in the oven wrapped in parchment paper, grill it or sauté it.
Rocket Salad with Summer Fruit
Rocket leaves
Purslane
1 radish
2 figs
10 grapes
Fresh mint
1 small red onion
Feta
4 tbsp Infused Extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black Pepper
1 heaped tablespoon mint pesto
Salad with Kafkalithres and other aromatic herbs
I make this salad, whenever I make spanakopita. In Greece, aparat from spinach, we use a lot or aromatic herbs in spanakopita, such as kafkalithres, myronia, spring onions, dill and parseley. Whenever I make spanakopita, I keep the most tender ones for some salads.
Ingredients:
Baby spinach leaves
Tender Kafkalithres leaves (small hartwort – Tordylium Apulum)
Myronia (scandix pectin veneris)
1 spring onion including green part
Parsley and dill
1 cup of fresh coriander
1 small seedless cucumber, skin on
½ Green apple
1 Radish
Pecans
Craisins
Extra salt and pepper
Vinaigrette
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp petimezi (grape molasses)
1 small clove garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Rocket Salad with aromatic herbs, poached figs and pistachios
Ingredients
Rocket
Coriander
Green onion
Kafkalithres
Myronia
3 radishes
Figs
Pistachios
Agourelaio
Salt
Poached figs
6 dried figs
1/3 cup commandaria wine
(In a frying pan cook the figs until the wine is reduced to a few tablespoons)
Vinaigrette
4 tablespoons agourelaio
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Syrup from figs
1 clove garlic
Rocket Salad with Aromatic Herbs and pomegranate caramelized dried fruit
2 – 3 cups rocket
1 spring onion
½ cup kafkalithres
½ cup myronia
1 – 2 tbsp parsley
1 – 2 tbsp dill
1 green apple
1 cucumber
2 radishes
Poached Dried fruit
3 Figs
3 Apricots
3 Prunes
½ cup pomegranate syrup
1 – 2 small sticks cinnamon
Boil until it reduces and caramelizes about 5 minutes
Pomegranate vinaigrette
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp caramelized pomegranate syrup
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 clove garlic
Tambouli (Tabbouleh with Cilantro)
Horta (boiled greens)
Vlita (boiled amaranth leaves with zucchini)
Kopiaste and Kali Orexi!
