Mediterranean salad with zucchini, lentils and feta cheese

Why do I call this recipe for Mediterranean salad instead of greek salad? The flavors feel very much Greece to me. But the recipe for this salad has no origins in Greece at all, so I choose to call it Mediterranean instead. Everything else had felt a bit arbitrary. It’s like when I find recipes written in Australia for “authentic” Swedish meatballs. Don’t get me wrong. They looks delicious but not very authentic. This salad is something I composed from things I found in my fridge. Half a zucchini, a few tomatoes, some olives, a somewhat withered leek, and a piece of feta cheese that had to be consumed in a very near future.

To give it som backbone I decided to add some green lentils that I found in my pantry. I also found some wheatberries that I couldn’t resist. The first thing I had to do was to boil the lentils and wheatberries. I seldom buy canned lentils or beans. There has been to many alarms here in Sweden regarding bisphenol in tin cans the last years.

Don’t let the dressing steal the show.

While the lentils were boiling, I mixed the dressing. I wanted a Greek touch, after all, so I choose olive oil, Vinagre, garlic, and oregano. When you mix a dressing, it is important that the garlic and vinegar don’t dominate too much. You don’t want to look like a pug in your face when you eat your salad. Too much garlic and vinegar just kill all other flavors. I use to grate the garlic and mix it with the oil. After that I let it stand for 15 to 20 minutes. Before I add it to the salad, I pour the oil through a strainer to get rid of all pieces of garlic. That way, I get a mild garlic flavor, just the way I want it. I add the Vinagre drip by drip until I get a desirable freshness.

Never waste the green part of the leek.

A typical Greek salad often contain red onion. Now, I love red onion, but when I found that leeks, I decided to use that instead. Most of what was left of it were the green part. But that was perfect. The green part is the best to use for salad. It adds both color and a mild taste, almost like spring onions.

I know it is not the season for tomatoes just yet. But if you salt and drain them, you can tease out a little more flavor. You can read more about that technique here.

This is a typical use all those vegetables before they must be discarded salad. I like that a lot as minimizing food waste is one of my missions. Besides, it tastes just great. As a final touch, I added some pumpkin seed. But that’s additional. Serve with a slice of sourdough bread. Close your eyes and enjoy and imagine that you are sitting at a small tavern somewhere in Greece.

Mediterranean style lentil salad with feta cheese

This is a typical use all those vegetables before they must be discarded salad. Serve with a slice of sourdough bread and enjoy the Mediterranean flavors.

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Prep Time 10 mins

Total Time 10 mins

Servings 2 people

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup leek cut in fine slices
• 20 cherry or plum tomatoes halved
• 2 cup zucchini shredded
• 3/4 cup olives
• 5 oz feta cheese
• 2 cup green lentils boiled
• 1/2 cup wheatberries boiled

Dressing

• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinagre
• 1 teaspoon oregano dried
• salt and black pepper to taste Be careful with salt. Both olives and feta cheese is quite salty.

Topping

• 1/4 cup pumpkin seed (Additional)

Instructions

 

• Mix olive oil with vinagre. Add salt an pepper.
• Add all ingredients into a big kitchen bowl. Add dressing and toss until everything is thoroughly dressed.
• Spread some pumpkin seed on top.

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