Watch out Caesar, a hot new bombshell has entered the villa. Greek salads are incredibly underrated, whether you’re making them at home for yourself or ordering one from your favorite local Greek spot alongside your favorite Greek dishes. A Greek-style salad is usually packed with fresh ingredients — think lettuce, red onion, Kalamata olives, cucumbers, a basic vinaigrette — and topped with the one ingredient that makes Greek salad, well, Greek salad: feta cheese. It’s fatty, milky, salty, and flavorful, elevating the entire mouthfeel and giving you reason to order yours with extra on top.
It’s hard to think that feta on a Greek salad can be made better, but according to Chris Cortez, executive chef of Fandi Mata, it can. In a conversation with Tasting Table, Cortez suggested marinating the feta before making your salad. “Toss your pieces of feta with some good olive oil, some herbs and spices, and a little lemon and let it hang out for a while,” he said, noting the effect that this simple step has. “It enhances the cheese without taking over,” he said.
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The step you need to take for more flavorful feta
Marinating feta in a bowl with herbs – Edvard Nalbantjan/Shutterstock
Besides a good quality olive oil, you’ll want to get creative with the seasonings you marinate your cheese with. Luckily, Chris Cortez has some suggestions. “For spice blends, I love feta with either za’atar or dukkah and a nice glug of olive oil. Another favorite is olive oil, lemon, thyme, and Calabrian chili,” he said. The Calabrian chili will give you a bit more heat, while a za’atar blend will offer delectably woody and comforting flavor from the marjoram, thyme, and oregano.
While you can’t really go wrong with the spices, you obviously don’t want to let your marinade sit for so long that the cheese’s texture changes. If you like your feta flavorful, let the cheese sit in the oil for upwards of 12 hours. It’ll keep for about a week in your fridge. Another must, per Cortez, is to use high-quality feta cheese. “It’s a salad built on simplicity, and using the highest-quality ingredients and letting them do all the work. Feta should be no different,” he explained.
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Read the original article on Tasting Table.
