The Recipe Box
Horiatiki Salata (Greek Village Salad)
By Billy Doukas
Years ago, when my mother Rita was operating the Longfellow Café in Portland, she began to serve a few Greek dishes. We had an informal partnership, and I couldn’t help but ask one day when I saw a Greek salad with no lettuce, “Where’s the greens!?”
I exclaimed with a know-it-all attitude, “Did we run out of lettuce?”
Rita smirked then smiled, “No, Billy boy, that’s a Horiatiki (HOR-ree-ah-TEE-kee) salad. No lettuce; it doesn’t grow in the villages; rocky soil.” At the time I didn’t believe her. But it’s true; such a “village” salad exists.
Here’s it is, Horiatiki Salata (Greek Village Salad):
Serves 6. Total Time: 30 minutes.
- 4 medium fresh ripe tomatoes, cored, cut into 6 wedges and then cut in half
- 2 Tablespoons Sea salt, divided
- 4 small cucumbers, peeled, cut into ½” thick discs and then quartered
- 1 medium red onion, sliced and quartered into ¼” wide strips
- 1 cup kalamata olives, pitted
- 3 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 Teaspoon black pepper
- ½lb block of Greek feta cheese, sliced into ¼” thick small triangles (I use French Feta)
- 2 Teaspoons dried oregano
Place cut tomatoes in colander, sprinkle 1 Tablespoon Sea salt, and allow tomatoes to drain for 15 minutes. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, black pepper, and 1 Tablespoon of salt in a bowl. Combine cucumbers, onions, olives, and tomatoes in larger bowl, and toss with prepared dressing. After servings are placed in individual dishes, set several feta triangles on top of each and sprinkle with oregano.
William “Billy” Doukas is a longtime Portland resident based in Longfellow Square/Parkside. With his mother Rita Panagakos-Doukas, he co-owned and operated Longfellow Cafe and the Trojan Horse restaurant between 1980-1990. A former Maine D.O.T. engineer, Billy now competes as a chef and hosts two annual food events.
