Weekend Foodie: Greek salad brings tastes of summer to the table... rain or shine
This salad makes a great meal for the picnic box, says Dianne Curtin.
It might have pelted it down for the last week, and it probably will continue to do so for the next few days. However, we won’t give up on summer just yet!
- 4 large ripe vine tomatoes
- 1 cucumber, cut into small chunks
- 400g can chickpeas
- 4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
- 12 pitted black olives, halved
- 400g can chickpeas
- 75g Feta cheese
- Few basil leaves
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- Good squeeze lemon juice
- Few drops green Tabasco sauce (optional)
- Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Place tomatoes in a bowl with cucumber, spring onions and olives.
- Drain the juice from chickpeas and rinse them. Drain again. Add to veggies.
- Crumble the cheese over.
- Add basil leaves, olive oil, lemon juice, green Tabasco, if using, and seasoning.
- Toss gently to mix all together.
- Check seasoning and serve at room temperature with crusty bread for lunch, or with barbecued meat or fish skewers for a main course.
- 2 large fresh free-range eggs
- 200mls milk
- 225mls cream
- 1-2 tbsp sugar (to taste)
- Few drops vanilla extract or favourite liqueur (optional)
- 4 large thick slices of crusty bread
- Softened butter for spreading
- 227g ripe strawberries, hulled and halved
- 125g raspberries
- Extra butter for dotting
- Icing sugar for dusting
- Beat the eggs with milk, cream, and sugar, and add vanilla or liqueur if using.
- Butter bread on one side only and cut into quarters.
- Arrange in a buttered dish, points upwards, scattering berries in between.
- Reserve a few berries for topping.
- Pour over custard mix.
- Dot top of pudding with butter and scatter the reserved berries on top.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven, Gas 5 375F 190C for 25 minutes or until pudding is set but still wobbly and top is browned.
- Cover loosely with foil during cooking if the top becomes too brown too soon.
- Dust with icing sugar to serve.
If you fancy a glass of wine with this salad, you could choose a crisp Pinot Grigio. But as it’s summer, I’m opting for a rosé which blends the necessary crispness with some soft berry fruit notes. From Aldi comes Le Petit Poulet Rosé - translated as the ‘little hen’, which I think is a beautiful name. This rosé from France packs a whole load of soft berry fruit tastes with a refreshing crispness, which will partner the salty Feta cheese and all the vibrant veggie tastes perfectly. Chill it briefly in the fridge before serving, not too cold otherwise those fruit notes will be dulled. Works very well with this Greek Salad, but as the name suggests, would also go with a cold chicken salad too. And what a great price at Aldi, just €8.99 a bottle.
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