Vaguely Greek Salad – Simple Meal Plans

vaguely greek salad
serves 2

I’ve eaten some pretty ordinary Greek salads in my time and wanted to freshen up this classic dish. By including ribbons of cucumber and serving the feta as a generous chunk in the middle we’re adding a new element.

Sardines are something I adore, but I understand they’re not for everyone. Traditionalists might prefer to replace the sardines with black olives.

2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 punnet cherry tomatoes (250g / 1/2lb)
1 lebanese cucumber
1 can sardines (100g/3.5oz), optional
hunk feta (150g / 7oz)

1. Combine lemon juice with 2 tablespoons exra virgin olive oil in a small bowl. Don’t worry about salt… the feta will do that job.

2. Chop tomatoes into halves or thirds and arrange on a platter or 2 plates. Shave cucumber with a vegetable peeler and scatter ribbons over. Discard the cucumber seeds.

3. Drain sardines, if using, and scatter over the platter or plates.

4. Drizzle over the dressing and top with the hunk of feta.

prepare ahead?

You could prep the tomatoes and cucumber ahead of time if you had to but it’s not ideal.

leftover potential

Will keep for a few days in the fridge but the tomato will chnge texture and lose flavour.

variations for fun

carnivore – skip the sardines and serve as a side salad to a slow roast shoulder or lamb.

dairy-free – replace the feta with a couple of roast or grilled field mushrooms.

vegetarian – replace the sardines with a handful of black olives, preferable greek kalamatas.

vegan – Replace feta with mushrooms and sardines with olives.

more greek – sprinkle over a little greek dried oregano.

budget – use a cheaper cheese instead of feta. And it will be fine to reduce the amount of cheese, even halve it.

fresh sardines – grill or pan fry about 10 small fresh sardine fillets and use them instead of the canned variety.

problem solving guide

too bland? Season with a little more salt & pepper. Next time look for ripes tomatoes & try a different brand of sardines.

too salty – some feta can be extremely salty. If yours is, soaking for a few minutes in cold water then drying can make a difference.

short on time – just chop the cucumber instead of messing around with the vegetable peeler. And leave the tomatoes whole.

don’t like sardines? – I did a ‘sardine’ tasting with my Dad and there was a massive difference in size and flavour between different brands. We found the ones from the mediterranean to be more strongly flavoured whereas the Scandanavian sardines tended to be smaller and milder. So it’s worthwhile trying a few different brands.