Greek Salad

Ver’s Greek Salad

Prep The Greek Salad Dressing

In the heart of Healdsburg, CA, sits DaVero, a rustic and gorgeous winery and farm, with a family of pigs and a bowery of flowers blooming next to the vineyards. On my first trip to Sonoma County, my then-boyfriend, now-husband, wowed me with a private tasting held at a stone table centered in a circle of willows with the branches woven to create an intimate and beautiful organic room that seemed stolen straight from the pages of a Tolkien fantasy world.

Besides the unique Italian grape varietals grown here and the fabulous wines made, this small winery also produces some of the finest olive oils and vinegars I have ever tasted. We use their red wine vinegar as one of the bases in this Greek salad dressing, which elevates the flavor immensely. The acidity of the vinegar perfectly cuts through the creamy fats of the feta cheese and balances out the bites of the kalamata olives in the salad.

To make the dressing, simply mince your garlic and whisk the rest of the ingredients together before adding to the salad. This is one of those dressings that improves the taste of the salad over time as the flavors meld, and I sometimes enjoy this Greek salad even more the next day after it’s sat in the refrigerator for a while.

Chop Your Vegetables

Prep your ingredients by chopping them into bite-sized pieces. You don’t want to dice these veggies finely; this is meant to be a fairly chunky salad.

First, core and slice the peppers into quarter-inch-thick slices, then cut again until they’re about one to one and a quarter inch long. Do the same to the red onion.

Halve your cherry tomatoes.

Slice your English cucumber into quarter-inch-thick rounds and then cut the rounds in half.

Add your chopped veggies, minus the avocado, into a large bowl.

Drain and rinse your Kalamata olives and add.

Crumble the feta cheese and add it to the bowl.

Now add your Greek salad dressing and toss well until all the veggies are coated.

Dice your avocado into half-inch bites and then carefully fold into the salad. If you mix too hard or use over-ripe avocados, they’ll turn into mush.