After returning home from Colorado and Ohio I wanted something healthy to eat since, well lets face it, on vacation it is easy not to think about what we eat and splurge on anything and everything in sight.

I went to Greece a few years ago and almost everyday I had a Greek salad.  They were always fresh and had a wonderful taste. When I returned home to Des Moines from Greece I had a craving for Greek salad so I started messing with a few recipes and creating a few of my own. After trying a few different recipies I found that I like a simple Greek salad with only a few ingredients. You can add onions and peppers along with a few other tasty ingredients depending on what you like. My goal when making this salad, was to make sure I had the freshest ingredients possible so it would come close to the fresh and sweet vegetables grown in Greece. I went to my local grocery store to find what I needed.  Every ingredient I used in this salad was either local or organic. It makes a big difference buying fresh ingredients rather than conventional ingredients when it comes to making something as simplistic as a salad.

This salata is not only full of flavor but it is healthy too! The parsley, feta, and kalamata olives really top the salad off and give it a good spin. It is definately worth making and most of all this salad reminded me how easy and delicious salads can be.

Happy Cooking!

Greek Village Salad (Horiatiki Salata)

• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 large cucumber
• 1 c kalamata olives
• 1/3 c crumbled feta cheese
• 1/3 c parsley

Instructions:

Wash, dry, and cut the tomatoes in 8 wedges each. Peel and slice the cucumbers. Mix the tomatoes and cucumber in a large bowl. Crumble the feta with your hands. Add to bowl. Mince the parsley. Add the olives. Toss well with the olive-old and vinegar dressing.

Oil-Vinegar Greek Dressing

• 2 parts olive oil (I used 1/3 cup)
• 1 part  Balsamic vinegar ( I used 1/4 cup)
• 1 medium lemon juiced
• oregano (optional) to taste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

In a jar mix all of the ingredients together. Shake all of the ingredients well in a tightly-sealed jar until well blended. Pour over salad.