“You made a salad of it.”
(Meaning: You made a mess of something.)
There is no better way to understand the importance of seasonality on the Greek table than to take a look at the range of Greek salads, both traditional and contemporary.
Each season has its salads. In winter, leafy greens such as spinach, cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, and a whole range of roots, from carrots to celeriac, are mainstays of the salad bowl. Spring means a tender lettuce salad on the Greek table, made with romaine or any variety of Bibb lettuces, most often seasoned with fresh dill and a lemony dressing. In summer and through the early fall, without a doubt, the tomato rules the salad bowl, together with crunchy peppers and cucumbers and a whole bevy of fresh herbs.
Salad is a part of every Greek table and sometimes is a whole meal in itself. Greek salads fall into several broad categories: There is an enormous range of seasonal raw vegetable salads, from the famed horiatiki, or Greek village salad, to leafy green salads enhanced with nuts, dried and fresh fruits, cheeses, herbs, and more. Cooked dried beans are a classic protagonist in hearty salads, and there are plenty of great salads made with chickpeas, lentils, Greek giant beans, or any number of other beans. Grains, too, such as bulgur and nowadays buckwheat and quinoa, have found their way into the contemporary Greek salad bowl.
A whole category of dips are qualified as salads in Greek, including dishes like taramosalata (fish roe spread), and I have given recipes for those in the dips chapter. And finally, there is the entire universe of cooked salads on the Greek table, from boiled beets to horta (wild greens) to boiled broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, and zucchini. These are typically dressed very simply with a little olive oil, salt, and lemon juice.
The contemporary Greek table has made room for additions to the salad bar, with fish and seafood, charcuterie, marriages of sweet and savory ingredients, or unusual uses for traditional foods now par for the salad course.
In this chapter, old and new come together in a collection of some of my personal favorite Greek salads. Enjoy!