Greek Salad (Horiatiki)

So, here I am in Greece. Loathe as I am to put a recipe for a salad (it's not cooking, is it?), I can't resist because it's a salad classic that's much misunderstood.

Can you see lettuce? No. It's not there. There is no lettuce. Salad does not have to have lettuce in it to be a salad. Greek salad does not have lettuce. Ok?

The ingredients:

- 1 big tomato
- cucumber (peeled and sliced chunky)
- green pepper (roughly chopped)
- 1/2 an onion (sliced)
- 4 olives per person (with the stone!)
- a splash of olive oil
- a splash of wine vinegar
- 1 chunk slice of feta per person (not chopped up into little cubes)

Cost per person:

Just under 1 Euro.

Here's how:

1. It's important to prep the tomatoes right. First of all, it helps if they've been grown in a sunny climate, so we need 'real' tomatoes kissed by the sun. Slit it crossways on the underside. Place in the sink. Slowly pour boiling water over it. Leave for 5 minutes. Peel off the skin delicately.

2. Chop the peeled tomato into chunky pieces.

3. Prep the other ingredients as in the photo:

4. Add these to a bowl and splash over a subtle amount of olive oil.

5. Splash in some wine vinegar:

6. Add the tomatoes, get your hands in and combine everything by tossing a few times.

7. Add the chunky slices of feta on top.

8. Enjoy on your balcony as the sun sets, with a hunk of bread and a glass of chilled and rather mediocre Greek wine (whereas Greece excels in most produce, it balances this excellence with some of the worst wine in Europe). Chill the wine (even red) would be my advice.