The New Odyssey: Creating Respect For the Greek Salad

Good lawd. We been inside a looong time now. I’m starting to crave different things than what I’ve been cooking. I kinda got set in a meal rotation and to be honest, I’m bored of all of it. So, we’re freshening up a bit today. Last night’s dinner was yet another old warhorse of a dish that I’ve found a new appreciation for.

Are you eating enough vegetables? Are you eating ANY vegetables? I love my vegetables, they’re most often what influences my choice of dinner when I’m out at a restaurant. Will I get the duck or the steak? Depends on the sides. Do I eat enough vegetables that aren’t cooked down into a sauce, stew or braise? Well… probably not.

Here to save the day is the humble Greek salad.

I know, you’ve seen this one before, it’s not sexy. You can get it at any mom and pop pizza place. Is it really deserving of a closer look, a second chance? Well, yeah. I mean, look at what we got here. It’s packed with crisp, crunchy vegetables. It’s chunky and easy to prepare. It’s super colourful, so it’s definitely Insta-friendly, and that’s a HUGE consideration in what we all cook these days. Plus, it’s got all the flavours you crave, from briny olives, to cool cucumbers to salty feta. And of course, anything Greek reminds me of Perfect Strangers, which is a huge win.

Is there a better way to eat a bowl of raw, fresh vegetables? Nah, son. There isn’t. Not enough protein for you? Well, we’re gonna go full 90’s and add some marinated chicken breast on there, too.

*Record scratch*

Yeah, alright, I know. Settle down. For those that don’t understand the dramatics, here’s the scoop. Adding slices of cooked chicken breast to a salad and calling it a meal is code for being a boring, unadventurous diner. It’s lame. It’s like adding chicken to a pasta where it doesn’t belong *cough chickeninalfredosauce cough*. It’s downright embarrassing. It’s the Andrew Scheer of lunch choices. Isn’t it?

I mean, we’re all stuck at home right now. Nobody can see what’s going on. If you want to marinate some boneless, skinless chicken breasts that have been hanging out in your freezer since before Tiger King, cook ‘em up and toss them on your salad, who am I to judge? I’ll just help you do it right, because like a good neighbor, I’m there for you. So, let’s get it.

Greek Salad

Ingredients

For the chicken & marinade

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Kosher salt
• 1-2 lemons, zest only (see below)
• 1 TBSP dried oregano
• 1 sprig thyme
• 2-3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

For the salad

• 1 large red onion, peeled and cut roughly
• 1 large English cucumber, cut roughly
• 1 bell pepper (I used orange, it don’t matter, just not green) cored and cut roughly
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 375 mL jar pitted Kalamata olives, drained
• 250g Feta cheese
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 TBSP dried oregano
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 lemons, juice only (from the above lemons)
• Red wine vinegar, to taste

Method

1. To marinate the chicken, place the breasts in a zip-top plastic bag and add a large pinch of kosher salt, the olive oil, oregano and lemon zest. Squeeze and smush the ingredients in the bag gently to coat everything, then add the sprig of thyme, making sure it’s touching the meat. Seal your bag and leave to marinate in the fridge at least 1 hour, ideally overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Extract your chicken bag from the fridge and allow to come to room temperature as you assemble the rest of your ingredients.
3. As an optional step, if you find the taste of raw onion too harsh, you can put your chopped onion into a bowl of ice water and leave it there for 15-20 minutes. Then drain out the onion and blot on paper towels. This reduces the harsh raw onion flavour. Or, you could just embrace the raw onion bite, like the Vampire Slayer I know you are.
4. Heat a film of canola oil in a medium, ovenproof pan over medium high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and carefully put them into the pan, letting them sear until quite browned on one side, about 4-5 minutes. Flip them, and transfer the pan to the oven. Set a timer for 15 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, chop the rest of your vegetables, drain your onions if you took the extra step (I did, because I love Liz and she finds raw onions too harsh), and toss together in a large salad bowl the red onion, cucumber, bell pepper, tomatoes and olives.
6. You can either crumble the feta or cut it into cubes, that’s entirely up to you. I prefer the crumble for MAXIMUM CHEESE DISPERSAL. Whatever you’ve chosen, toss the cheese into the vegetables, mixing well. By this point your chicken should be just about done, and if it is, remove it from the pan and let rest for 7-8 minutes.
7. Now for the dressing. I’m going to be honest here: I never measure anything for salad dressing, unless I’m making some kind of emulsified vinaigrette. I just add directly to the salad, tasting as I go to adjust, and I encourage you to do the same. But, I put some ballpark figures for you up there in the ingredients list. So, season the salad with salt, pepper and oregano, tossing to evenly distribute. Add the olive oil, and toss again. Add the lemon juice, toss again and taste. Is it acidic enough? If not, add some red wine vinegar and taste again. Add more of whatever it needs.
8. Give the salad one final toss, pile it into bowls and throw some chicken slices on there. Opa!

This is a perfect lunch or light dinner to have in anticipation of warmer weather. Obviously, the more seasonal the vegetables, the better the salad. You can eat a huge bowl of this and not feel bloated or terrible afterwards, and it’s a great post-workout meal. Is it cool? Will it make the cover of Bon Appetit anytime soon? No, but that’s not the point of the Greek salad. The point of the Greek salad is to eat a bunch of fresh vegetables soaked in feta and olive oil so you feel like a healthy boy or girl. And after over a month of quarantine pizza and pasta, that’s probably what we all need about now.