Greek Bread Salad

Number of Servings: 4

Salad Ingredients:

2 cups of croutons made from sourdough bread*

2 cups of chopped tomatoes
1 English cucumber, seeded, and chopped (medium dice)
1 green pepper, chopped (medium dice)
¼ of a red onion, medium dice
2-3 tablespoons of chopped Kalamata olives

1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled or cubed
¼ cup each of basil and mint leaves
1 cup of baby arugula

Vinaigrette:

2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon (5 mL) Dijon mustard
1 ½ tablespoons (7 mL) red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon (15 mL) chopped fresh oregano, or 1 teaspoon dried
¼ cup (60 mL) Greek olive oil
Kosher or sea salt; freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. *Make croutons:  Cut sourdough bread (no crusts) into ¾ inch cubes. Toss with 1-2 tablespoons olive oil, and a sprinkle or two of salt. Bake (375⁰ F) for 10 minutes, or until toasted and golden. Stir up croutons once or twice while baking. Set aside to cool.
2. Place tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, red onion, and olives in a large salad bowl.
3. Make vinaigrette: Mix together garlic, mustard, vinegar and oregano.   Whisk in olive oil;  season to taste.
4. At serving time, Toss salad with the vinaigrette.   Add feta cheese, basil, mint, and arugula – fold in.
5. Fold in the toasted croutons. Serve immediately. Garnish with extra feta cheese and chopped mint.

Questions and comments are always welcome     alex@chilipeppersandpears.com ^[1]