Greek Salad

° Serves 4

I love Greek salads, with their distinctively flavored kalamata olives, feta cheese, and tomatoes. Happily, a reasonable facsimile can be made at home in a few minutes, since the ingredients are readily available at your local market. The main difference between the salads you would find in Greece and this recipe is that I use much less oil in mine.

I make this salad a few hours ahead so the flavors have time to blend and develop. Refrigerate it if you make it ahead, but serve it at room temperature, taking the chill off by heating it momentarily in a microwave oven just before serving. Serve with crunchy bread.

• 16 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 4 ounces kalamata olives (about 20)
• 6 ounces feta cheese in brine, drained and broken into ½- to 1-inch pieces
• 1 red onion (about 5 ounces), peeled and sliced thin
• 1½ teaspoons dried oregano
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 4 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup flat leaf parsley leaves
• About 4 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced thin (1½ tablespoons)

Mix all the ingredients together in a salad bowl and set aside until serving time. (You can make the salad a few hours ahead and refrigerate it, but bring it back to room temperature before serving.)