Simple Mediterranean Green Salad

The main ingredient is salad greens of your choosing to fill one standard-sized salad bowl. Romaine does not work well unless it is baby romaine. No iceberg. Use baby greens, a spring mix, butter lettuces, a head of red leaf lettuce, or a combination of arugula and baby greens. It is hard to offer a measurement because the amount will vary by how much salad you want to eat and how many people you are serving. For that reason, the ingredients listed below are provided without measurements. Adjust measurements by the amount of salad you want.

Ingredients

Salad greens
Crumbled feta cheese
Pitted Kalamata olives
Sprinkle of dried oregano
Salad dressing as described below under Directions

Directions

Once you have assembled the salad, the trick to loving it, of course, is the dressing. I use either one of two kinds of dressing.

The first is a simple red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing made of three parts olive oil to one part red wine vinegar. Mix it up in a jar or cruet and pour as much as suits you onto the salad (be stingy at first so as not to drown the salad—you can always add more). For additional flavor, if desired, add about a half a teaspoon of Dijon mustard for a tasty vinaigrette.

The second dressing option is a Balsamic vinaigrette made of four parts olive oil to one part Balsamic vinegar. The same preparation instructions as above apply, and you add that half a teaspoon of mustard to make it a vinaigrette.

For those who can’t eat gluten, check the label on your vinegar. Red wine vinegar and Balsamic vinegar are made from grapes, not grains, and theoretically should be gluten-free. However, many brands on the market are not pure and contain traces of gluten that will aggravate those who have high gluten sensitivity.

I eat this salad every day for lunch (in large quantities). It is satisfying and according to research on the subject, it contributes to longevity.

Eat well, be well, live deliciously!