Greek Summer Salad with Anchovies

There are few tasks when visiting family in Greece that I enjoy as much as going to the λαïκη (lye-ee-KEE), the farmer’s market.  There you will find the ripest, most colorful produce, buckets of olives, slabs of feta, and the freshest seafood and meats.  I drool walking past each display.

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The only way you could match the flavor and aromas of what is in these markets is to grow your own veggies and catch your own fish.  I highly recommend it.  Putting these two groups of ingredients together is an even better idea, and this part isn’t even hard.

This lovely summer salad comes together quickly and is perfect on its own as a light lunch, or as a side to a full dinner.  Since anchovies are typically only found in cans here and are usually very salty, a little dab will do ya’.  But even their stronger flavor blends so well with the tomatoes and feta cheese and the light crunch of the sweet banana peppers.  A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil adds the final touch to this Greek summer staple.

Greek Summer Salad with Anchovies Recipe

• Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

• • Tomatoes, cut into small bite sized chunks
  • Sweet Banana Peppers, cut into rings and seeds removed, or other sweet peppers
  • Anchovy fillets, about two per person unless you really love them
  • Kalamata olives
  • Feta cheese, cut into slabs
  • Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

The amount of the ingredients you use will depend on how many people you intend to feed and how hungry they are!  Aim for a balance of peppers and tomatoes.  Greeks don’t typically crumble the feta on the salad, but instead serve it in slices and allow each person to break it up as they wish with their food.  Anchovies are usually packed pretty tightly, so carefully tease them apart so you don’t shred them to bits.  Arrange the anchovies on top of the salad and drizzle the olive oil over everything.  As you eat the salad, break up the anchovies and eat them with a little tomato and feta together, it’s a great flavor combination.  Serve with a slice bread to help soak up the juices and olive oil at the bottom!