Greek Salad

Greek salad is tomato, cucumber, green pepper and red onion tossed in olive oil and topped with a slab of feta and black olives. Greeks call it horiatiki, the villagers' salad, and there is deliberately no lettuce and no vinegar in the classic version — nothing to dilute what the vegetables and the oil already do.

What it really is

Ripe tomato, cucumber, green bell pepper and thinly sliced red onion are cut into rough chunks rather than fine dice — this is a coarse salad, not a delicate one — and dressed with nothing but a generous pour of olive oil and a scattering of dried oregano. A whole slab of feta sits on top rather than being crumbled through, and a handful of black olives sits alongside it.

The feta is a topping, not an ingredient tossed with the rest. Left whole on top, it stays firm and lets a guest cut into it fresh at the table rather than eating it pre-softened into the vegetables underneath.

How it is served

• With the feta whole on top, drizzled with olive oil and oregano at the table.
• Family-style, one bowl for the table rather than individual plates.
• Alongside grilled meat or as the opening dish of a meze spread.

How to write it on the menu

• Flag the dairy in the feta.
• Note that it is naturally vegan without the cheese, since guests often ask for exactly that swap.
• Say if the vegetables are seasonal; a version made with underripe winter tomato is a genuinely different salad from a peak-summer one.

The ingredients, allergens and dietary notes listed here describe a typical recipe. They are not a binding declaration for any particular restaurant: recipes, portion sizes and the products used can differ.