Greek Salad

Greek Salad

This recipe is inspired by a visit to Santorini in Chicago alongside Melissa Clark's awesome feta-brined chicken .  The key ingredient is sizzling feta cheese.  Opaa!

Ingredients 

handful of parsley (or lettuce or massaged kale)
handful of white legumes (such as cannelloni, lima beans, or chickpeas)
handful of chopped orange (or red or yellow) peppers
handful of chopped fresh fennel
a dozen or so pitted kalamata olives
2-3 teaspoons of fresh thyme or oregano (or a combination)
extra virgin olive oil (optional)


for the fried cheese
1 Tablespoon high-heat olive oil
1 to 1.5 oz. feta, cut into small cubes (I like feta-style raw goat's milk cheese sold by my local co-op)
kosher sea salt, to taste
freshly ground pepper, to taste
2-3 drops essential lemon oil (I use Young Living, which claims to be therapeutic grade) or a bit of lemon zest


Directions
Mix the parsley, legumes, peppers, fennel, olives, and herbs in a bowl.

Heat the olive oil in a small cast iron skillet (or another frying pan that is not non-stick) and add in the salt, pepper, and lemon oil. When a drop of water sizzles, add the cheese. Sizzle cheese until browned on both sides.

Dump the cheese and oil onto the salad and mix it up. Drizzle on a bit of extra virgin olive oil if desired.

This recipe serves one hearty salad, but can be doubled, tripled, etc. as desired.