OPA! A SIMPLY SCRUMPTIOUS SUMMER SALAD

I got a beautiful assortment of heirloom tomatoes in my Bountiful Sprout basket this week, as well as a couple of these interesting cucumbers.

If I remember correctly, the farmer I selected them from called them a "sweet slicing cucumber." The great thing about them is that they are long and slender, so each slice is a perfect mouthful. Plus, they are solid all the way through, so no need to scoop out the seedy, watery center to keep it from diluting your dressing. Oh yeah, and they taste good too!

So, what do you do when you've got fresh off the vine cucumbers and tomatoes, and a bit of feta cheese and some good Greek olives in the fridge? Why, you make Greek salads, of course!

GREEK SALAD (4 servings)

Stem and wedge 2 small tomatoes, sprinkle with salt
Peel, halve (or not, if yours are thin like mine) and slice thickly 1 medium cucumber
Peel and thinly slice 1/2 small red onion, or 5 green onions
Halve, core, seed and slice 1 small, sweet red pepper
Rinse and pit 1/4 cup good black Calamata or Nicoise olives (not the icky canned kind!)
Break up 4 oz. feta cheese

Whisk together:
2 tsp. red wine vinegar *
1 tsp. lemon juice (opt.) *
2 tsp. fresh oregano, chopped
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Then add in a slow stream, as you continue whisking:
6 T. extra-virgin olive oil **

Season cucumbers and onions with salt. Taste and add more salt to tomatoes, if needed. Gently toss veggies with 3/4 of the vinaigrette. Taste and add more salt or vinegar if needed. Can sit for a few minutes if desired. Toss again just before serving and garnish with feta and olives. Spoon remaining dressing over.

* I didn't have any lemon juice, so I used all red wine vinegar and, since I like my salad dressing on the tangy side, I used twice as much as they called for -- about 2 T.

** One of those little bottles of flavored olive oils Hubby brought home recently was flavored with oregano, so I added a dash of that in with my regular olive oil.

Apolambano! (Greek for Enjoy! Feast!)