Greek
salads do not come any easier or simpler than this one. And to be honest this
is a Cretan salad, and you do know that the people of Crete
are among the healthiest on the planet. Their secret is lots and lots of extra
virgin olive oil.
This is my
version of dakos and I only diverted from the original because I had run out of
feta cheese. So I used greek yogurt -full fat, unflavoured, no sugar, of
course- and a sprinkle of parmesan for texture.
It is a bit
like a bruschetta but it is much bigger and a meal in itself. Some people add
onion but I think it detracts from the freshness of the salad. You can also add
some cucumber. Do not put lots of different vegetables though. The idea is to
taste the olive oil and the tomato.
For 2 servings if it is a salad or 1 serving as a main meal
- A barley
rusk
- Some water
- One tomato
- 2
tablespoons olive oil
- 1 green
bell pepper
- 1 cup
crumbled feta cheese (or in this case 2 spoonfuls of greek yogurt and a
sprinkle of parmesan)
- A sprinkle
of oregano (optional)
Take a
barley rusk. Wet it a bit. Just a bit, maybe 3-4 tablespoons of water.
You don’t
need to skin off the tomato as the skin is going to come off when you grate it.
So, yes, grate the tomato. Do not put it into a food processor, it will turn to
water and we don’t want it to be runny.
Place the
tomato on top of the rusk. Pour 2 spoons of olive oil on the tomato. Chop the
bell pepper and arrange it on the tomato. Put some crumbled feta cheese or as I
have done here –and this is just my version, real dakos is with feta or
mizithra cheese- two spoonfuls of greek yogurt and a sprinkle of cheese. If you
do my version with the yogurt skip the water in the beginning.
Sprinkle
with oregano or some olives if you have them and serve.