Greek Marinated Vegetable Salad – Lahanika Marinata

I had been eyeing the Greek cooking bible, Vefa’s Kitchen for years, finally got my hands on it!

In her book Vefa details out the importance of vegetarianism in their cuisine. It is said the staples of Greece today are the same as they have been for centuries, cereals, beans, greens, herbs, the olive and its oil, figs, grape, wine and cheese. Greeks ate very little meat until the second half of the 20^th century. For thousands of years meat was consumed only during feats and festivals in the honour of the many gods and goddesses of the Greek pantheon. In addition, the long history of fasting in the Greek orthodox religion which insisted upon abstention from animal products for almost a third of the year has resulted in a rich tradition of vegetable dishes cooked with olive oil. And believe me olive oil is never enough, the fresh taste of extra virgin olive oils especially in salads takes the flavours to another level.

I first tried Greek food during my days in hostel at Warwick - whatever my flatmate Aristae would put together. I was amazed to see how some of the cereals which we ate were staple food for her as well. When I started working in Delhi a quaint restaurant called “Its Greek to Me” in started in Delhi, which I would frequent, owing to light and delectable food, good cocktails and great music. Have fond memories of it. Unfortunately it shut down about a year ago.

This salad is apt for the summer season. This vibrant salad packed with freshness of mint and lemon is light on the stomach. An absolute delight!!!

This recipe is a slightly modified version of the one in the book.

 

Ingredients

1 red bell pepper cut into cubes

1 cup boiled carrots
1 cup French bean cut into small pieces
1 cup boiled cauliflower florets

Marinade

¼  tsp black pepper powder
½   tsp red chilli flakes powder
¼ cup mint leaves finely chopped
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp honey
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3-4 cloves of garlic (crushed or finley chopped)
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt to taste

p.s. even though I have used honey its only to balance the tartness of the vinegar – it’s not sweet at all, just a little note for all of you who steer away from sweet food!

 

Method

Marinade

·         In a mixing bowl add vinegar and lemon juice. Take a hand whisker, and whisk the mixture and slowly incorporate 3 table spoons of oil.

·         In a small pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil and add garlic. Once it has changed colour (ensure that its not brown), and turn off the fire. Now add the chilli flakes.

·         Incorporate the remaining ingredients into the marinade mixture – whisk well.

Now mix the vegetable into the marinade. Let them marinate in the refrigerator for about 3-4 hours. The traditional recipe calls for them to be marinated overnight. And the salad is ready to serve.

 

Post Script

Boiling vegetables – you don’t want to over boil vegetables. They become limp, lifeless and colourless. You want the salad to be crunchy yet not raw. I take a vessel, bring the water to boil. Add good amount of salt. This allows salt to permeate in the vegetables as well as helps retain the colour of the vegetables. Once the water has boiling, add the vegetable. It does not take more than 45 seconds to maximum a minute for hard vegetables. Take them out of the water immediately. Run them under cold water. If you leave them in water they continue to cook. Ensure you don’t cook all vegetables together. All vegetables have different times of cooking depending on the texture, and shape and size of the pieces.

You can add other vegetables as well – mushrooms, zucchini and broccoli. Please don’t boil the mushrooms and zucchini, just sauté them in a little bit of olive oil if you like them slightly cooked.

My next few posts are detail out the meal I put together yesterday for dinner. This is the first of the three posts.