Chopped Greek Salad & My Favorite Greek Dressing

Okay so I definitely feel kinda lame for posting about a salad because...well... it's a salad. But since this salad finds its way to my dinner table at least once a week, I figured it was time to post about it. And really, this post isn't about the salad as much as it's about dressing. Aren't all salads really about the dressing anyway?

Once I started making my own salad dressings, I have never gone back to store bought. Have you read the ingredient list in that stuff? It's all sugar and words I can't pronounce. I'll take my sugar in the form of cookies, not salad.

This greek dressing is great because I can pretty much guarantee that you have all the ingredients to make the dressing right now. You can throw it together on a moments notice. The other thing that I love about this dressing is that it has a high ratio of vinegar to oil. Most vinaigrettes have wayyyyyyy too much oil in them. This dressing uses more vinegar than oil so it gives it a really good tang and makes a little bit go a long way.

I'm posting a "recipe" for the salad based on what I usually put in it. Obviously change things around as you see fit. The version I'm posting is a vegetarian version, but if I have leftover chicken I usually throw that in too. This makes quite a bit of salad. It usually makes enough for me and Ross for dinner one night and lunch the next day.

Chopped Greek Salad
Ingredients:

• 1 bag of romaine, washed, dried, and chopped
• 2 - 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 bell peppers, chopped (I use one orange and one yellow)
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 - 3/4 cup garbanzo beans
• 1/3 cup kalamata olives, roughly chopped
• 1/2 feta, chopped

Directions

1. Throw everything in a large bowl and mix it together!

My Favorite Greek Dressing:
Source: AllRecipes.com
*Note: The quantities are a little weird. This is because the recipe is scaled back from a restaurant recipe that makes like 120 servings.

Ingredients:

• 2/3 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp onion poweder
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Whisk together all of the ingredients except the olive oil.
2. Slowly stream in the olive oil while whisking until well blended.
   

Greek Salad Dressing