Greek Salad

I had never made Greek salad before because I couldn't find a recipe which I liked. So I made up my own. This serves 4 people as a side dish.

Ingredients:

• 3 roma tomatoes, halved lengthways then cut into thirds
• 1 red or green capsicum, halved, then sliced 
• 1 shallot, roughly chopped
• 5 or 6 sun dried tomatoes, cut into 1cm pieces
• 1/4 cup whole Kalamata olives, pitted
• 1/2 cucumber, roughly chopped into chunks
• 200g low-fat fetta cheese, roughly cut into cubes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Dressing:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• Freshly ground pepper

Method:

1. Place the fetta on paper towel to soak up any moisture before cubing
2. Toss all salad ingredients into a large bowl (except the fetta)
3. Mix the dressing ingredients well (shaking in a glass jar works best)
4. Pour the dressing over the salad, toss gently
5. Just before serving, add the fetta cubes and toss very lightly.

D-E-L-icious  XD

Greek Lamb Salad

This recipe has been adapted from a Weight Watchers recipe. It serves 4, is fast, very easy and delicious. You will need at least 30mins for the lamb to marinate, but you can make the marinade (dressing) hours in advance and leave it in the fridge until ready to cook.

Ingredients:

• 150g low fat natural Greek yoghurt
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1/2 teaspoonground cumin
• Sprinkle of salt
• 450g lean lamb loin chop, bones removed (I used lean lamb steaks)
• 2 tablespoons fresh mint, shredded
• 1 cucumber, thinly sliced
• 4 sticks celery, thinly sliced
• 2 tomatoes, cut into wedges
• 1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
• Handful of sliced capsicums (I used a mixture of colours)
• 100g lettuce (I used baby cos lettuce)

Method:

1. Combine the yoghurt, lemon juice, garlic, cumin and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Pour 1/4 of this dressing into a pres-seal bag and add the lamb. Seal the bag and toss to mix the dressing through the lamb
2. Cover the remaining dressing with glad wrap and leave in the fridge. Refrigerate the lamb for a minimum of 30mins, overnight is fine.
3. Preheat a griddle pan on high. Remove the lamb from the pres-seal bags and place on grill to cook
4. Cook 4mins both sides, remove and set aside for 5mins. Slice thinly.
5. Meanwhile stir half the mint into the dressing
6. Arrange lettuce and salad vegetables on plates. Top with lamb, drizzle the dressing over and garnish with the remaining mint.

D-E-L-icious  XD