I love Greek salad.  It’s one of my favorite salads and a salad that Mike believes is a meal. Our last apartment had a rooftop deck with a pool and views of the Capitol, the Nationals Stadium, and on clear days the National Cathedral.  It also had two grills. We love Mike loves to grill and I love to eat food off the grill.  I imagine that when we buy a house someday a grill will be one of our first purchases. But back to the deck and Greek salad.  One Sunday afternoon, we made a Greek salad, took it to the roof, grilled some chicken, topped our salad with it, and sat and ate outside, eating right out of the bowl after our first servings. It was so relaxing, the meal was so fresh and just one of those moments that makes you think “life is good.”

Because I almost always cook from a recipe, the first few times we made Greek salad we used a recipe.  This recipe from Pioneer Woman. Now I can whip one up from memory.  Love that feeling.  (Another recipe I know by heart.)

There’s a Greek deli/bakery across the street from my office and when I was in there a few weeks ago they had a beautiful salad in the case that was all veggies.  It looked amazing. And so easy.

Does anyone else ever feel like lettuce gets in the way of the good stuff?  Sometimes I just want to get the salty olives, feta cheese, the juicy tomatoes, and crisp cucumbers.

So while Mike was away I made this Greek salad without lettuce. It’s super easy, quick, and can make as little or as much as you want. It’s vegetarian and could easily be vegan if you held the cheese and honey. Not only is this salad good and good for you (in the words of Rachel Ray) but I believe that this salad is good for your soul.  Chopping vegetables, and ones in a variety of colors, can really wake you up, ground you in the moment, and make you come alive a little bit.  At least it does for me.

This is not an exact recipe. Just eyeball things as you see fit. (If you’re like me and feel a recipe is a must, just relax and have fun with this. It will be good. Trust me and trust yourself. Oh, and taste the dressing before you put it on the salad 😉 Here it is.

In the mix:

cucumber
red bell pepper
green bell pepper
can of chickpeas rinsed and drained
red onion
Kalamata olives
feta cheese (I think it’s better when you buy a brick and crumble off some )
tomato
red wine vinegar
honey
olive oil
spices to taste (optional but I like oregano and garlic)
salt and pepper

Chop veggies so they’re all around the same size. Think big cubes. Put in a big bowl with chickpeas and feta.

In a smaller bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine red wine vinegar, honey, spices and then whisk in olive oil. Taste. When it’s good, pour over veggies and stir to coat.

Enjoy!

(I used 1/2 cucumber, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, can of chickpeas, and red onion. For the tomato I used about 10 grape tomatoes cut in half. This made 2 meal sized portions and two side-sized portions.)

The other meal I made while Mike was away. What I usually eat when Mike is away.

I’d love to know:

What’s your favorite salad?

What do you eat when you’re solo?