NOT-YOUR-TYPICAL GREEK SALAD
Cucumber • Walnuts • Rice • Cracked Pepper • Egg • Feta
Serves 2
I thought long and hard about how to put my own spin on this one. The classic version is absolutely perfect—especially when tomatoes are in season. But I wanted to do something with a little bit of a twist, creating a sort of salad parfait by layering rice with traditional Greek salad ingredients and topping them with a savory egg. This is hearty enough to be a main dish.
wild bonus: Increasing your fruit and vegetable intake is the best way to load up on antioxidants, which help your body detoxify.
2 cups cooked Arborio or long-grain rice
½ cup walnuts, crushed
Celtic sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
10 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, peeled and cut into bite-size pieces
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
In a medium bowl, combine the rice and walnuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, and the feta and lightly toss the mixture together.
To serve, layer the bottom of each of two dinner plates with half of the rice mixture, using a spatula to pat it down. Scoop half of the salad ingredients onto each mound of rice and top each with one of Yiayia’s Eggs. Season with the oregano and salt, cracked pepper, and a final drizzle of olive oil to taste.
