Greek Salad With Aegean Dressing
One of the best salads in the city, or anywhere really, is the Greek Salad at Maple Street Cafe. it is served in a delicious bread bowl. We like this salad better than any we have had, including in Greece.
4 boule (Whole Foods has these)
I head romaine lettuce
1 head red leaf lettuce
1 cucumber
1 small purple onion
1 cup of kalamata olives
1 cup green olives pitted
1 lb grape tomatoes halved
½ red bell pepper
½ yellow bell pepper
I cup crumbled feta cheese
1 T Cavender’s Greek Seasoning
Chop lettuce into manageable pieces
Chop all vegetables into bite-sized pieces
Toss the vegetables and lettuce and add Greek seasoning, tossing again.
Add dressing (see recipe below) and then feta and toss lightly a last time.
Cut bread bowls horizontally about ⅓ down from the top. Hollow out, leaving an inch of bread as the shell. Toast, Fill bread bowl with salad.
Aegean Salad Dressing
Ingredients
2 large, very fresh garlic cloves
3 Tbs. fresh-squeezed lemon juice, strained
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp. dried dill
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. coarsely-ground black pepper
1 scant tsp. garlic salt
1/2 cup 100% pure olive oil (not virgin)
Steps
Trim the garlic cloves of anything dry or hard, and remove the green shoot in the center (it's better if the garlic is so fresh that the shoot isn't even there).
In a blender, combine the garlic and half of the lemon juice. Run the blender until you have a translucent, pale liquid with few visible solids.
Add all the other ingredients except the 100% pure olive oil. Add two tablespoons of water. Run the blender for about thirty seconds.
Add a few drops of the pure olive oil and run the blender on medium speed. After thirty seconds, add the pure olive oil in a thin stream while running at medium-high speed. Continue adding the oil until it gets noticeably thicker.
Turn the blender off and stick a spoon into the dressing to taste it. Adjust with salt and black pepper to taste.
