Hey everyone! It is officially summer now and hopefully everyone is in full camping mode. How many of you only get to camp in the summer and how many are year rounder’s? Let me know in the comments! Today I am bringing you one of my favorite sides to have when we are camping…Greek Salad.
Back before we transitioned to real food, our camping trips often involved many, many bags of chips (raise your hand if you love potato chips and dip as much as I do!). While there are many, cleaner, alternatives for potato chips that we enjoy (I’ll save those for another post), part of cleaning up our diet was reducing our reliance on these processed foods and trying to embrace more natural and nutritious options. This was pretty easy when we were at home where we have a bigger refrigerator and more prep space. Sadly it wasn’t as easy when we were camping.
Why I Love This Recipe
This Greek Salad was actually a staple before I had to give up gluten. It just included pasta with the other ingredients, so if you want to add a healthy whole wheat rotini to the salad feel free. You will find this Greek Salad is so simple to put together and super easy to adjust to your own definition of “clean eating” and dietary preferences. With just 6 simple ingredients you can whip up this recipe while your main course cooks or have it made ahead of time for a quick snack.
Before I start talking about ingredients, you should know there really isn’t a right way to do this, which is part of the reason I love it so much. It is easy to add your own style or favorite veggies to! I’ll add some of my favorite add-ins at the end of the post.
What You’ll Need for this Greek Salad
You’ll need:
- Cucumbers
- Tomatoes
- Olives
- Feta
- Pepperoni
- Dressing (not pictured)
Making This Simple Salad
I like to buy the seedless cucumbers because they are a little less watery than regular, but if I can get some traditional cucumbers at a farmers market or out of my garden I use them. Just chop the cucumbers into approximately ¼ inch rounds and then cut each round into 4-6 pieces, depending how large you cucumber is.
I use grape or cherry tomatoes cut in half or quarters, depending on the size.
My favorite type of olives to use are the Lindsay® Naturals™ you see in my picture, but whatever you prefer will be fine. The recipe calls for only one can of olives but I always get two because my family tends to snack on them while I’m making the salad.
Pepperoni adds a whole new layer of flavor to this salad which is why I highly recommend adding it. However if you aren’t a fan, or trying to make this meatless, or don’t have any on hand this salad is delicious without. I like to buy Applegate Naturals® Uncured Pepperoni as it is a clean and delicious option. Just chop it into bite size pieces and add it in!
Feta is another of those delicious ingredients that can be altered to fit your tastes. Add in or leave it out or serve it on the side! We often will leave the feta on the side as some in my family are dairy free.
Last but not least is the dressing. There are a lot of options out there for Greek dressings. While I’ve made a dressing for this salad before I much prefer to buy one when we are camping. Keeping it simple is the whole goal for this site (and me). So far I’ve tried Organicville®, Tessamae™, Primal Kitchen®, and Kens®. I really do not have a favorite, just depends on which dressing I can find at a store near us.
This is the perfect salad to have on a hot day when you want something cool to eat.
So Many Ways to Customize Greek Salad
Now I did say that there were a lot of ways to customize this salad to suit your tastes. All of the ingredients I listed you can leave in, leave out, or change completely. Some ways we have made this different include adding:
- Mixing in shredded chicken
- Adding Chopped avocado
- Swapping Feta for fresh mozzarella
- Throwing in some diced red onion
- Using Italian dressing instead of Greek
- Adding a bed of lettuce
- Mixing in garbanzo beans
Easy & Nutritious Greek Salad
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
- 2 Seedless Cucumbers
- 1 Pint Grape Tomatoes
- 6 Ounces Black Olives
- 8 Ounces Feta Cheese, Crumbled (Optional)
- 1 Package Pepperoni
- 1 Bottle Greek Salad Dressing
Instructions
- Chop cucumbers into 1/4 inch chuncks and add to bowl.
- Slice grape tomatoes and olives in half and add to cucumbers.
- Slice all pepperoni into short strips to add to the rest of the ingredients.
- Stir salad and add feta if using.
- You can eat this right away or chill in the refrigerator or cooler until ready to eat.
- Add dressing to individual portions or to the whole salad as desired.
Notes
As you can probably tell this salad is one of my favorite side dishes as it is versatile enough that everyone loves it but has enough flavor to keep me coming back for more. Probably to much more.
Has finding clean side dishes been hard for you? What are your best tips? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Camping!
-Jess
