Greek Salad With Shrimp

We have a couple of new restaurants in our neighborhood, and two of them serve Mediterranean-style dishes. I love it because we can get delicious food that is pretty healthy. There is a lot of fish, salad, and omelets in Mediterranean fare, and they use fresh, natural ingredients.

My inspiration for this salad came from these new local eateries. A yummy, beautiful Greek salad is a delicious way to end the day.

Greek Salad with Shrimp

You’re going to make Greek salad in three parts: dressing, salad greens, and shrimp. Go ahead and preheat your oven to 425 degrees for the shrimp, and let’s get started with the dressing.

Dressing:

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (I used EVOO from the sun-dried tomatoes.)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Juice from half a lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped Kalamata olives
1 teaspoon Spice Islands Garlic & Herb Blend grinder
1/2 teaspoon oregano leaves (dried)
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
freshly ground salt and black pepper to taste

I make the dressing in a mason jar because it’s just the right size, it’s great for shaking briskly, and the flavors don’t seep into the glass like they do with plastic. Start with the EVOO. My sun-dried tomatoes were packed in EVOO, so I used that to give it a little more flavor. However, you can also use plain EVOO. Add the balsamic vinegar.

Add the lemon juice, sun-dried tomatoes, and olives.

I found this Spice Island grinder in the grocery and thought it would be great in the dressing and on the shrimp.

IMG_5287

It’s a blend of garlic, onion, and some other herbs. Grind about 1 teaspoon of it into your dressing. Add the oregano, onion powder, salt and pepper. You should have something that looks like this:

Put the lid on tightly and give it a good shake to blend well.

The salad comes next, and it’s just a lot of chopping.

Salad:

1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1/4 bunch fresh parsley, coarsely chopped
1/3 cucumber, peeled and diced
A couple of slices red onion, very thinly sliced
4-5 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
1/4 cup good quality kalamata olives
2 oz feta cheese (I used Athenos Garlic and Herb)
3 large pepperoncini peppers

Place your romaine lettuce in a large salad bowl. Add the chopped cucumber, the coarsely chopped parsley, the thinly sliced red onion, pepperoncini peppers, and the diced sun-dried tomatoes. I use the ones packed in olive oil so that I can use the oil for the dressing, but you can use the dry ones as well.

Next I add the kalamata olives. I like to use a high quality kalamata. I buy mine from the deli at the grocery store. If your grocery deli doesn’t sell fresh kalamatas, you can buy canned. But do yourself a favor and buy the best ones you can find. With kalamata olives, you get what you pay for, and those yummy, salty fresh ones are unbeatable.

I add the feta just before serving so that it doesn’t get soggy and yucky. You can use fresh feta is you have it. It would certainly be the best. I didn’t have any on hand, so I used Athenos. It’s good, too.

Set that aside and let’s move onto the shrimp.

Shrimp:

1 lb shrimp, raw, with tails
Lemon Pepper
Spice Islands Garlic & Herb Grinder

Your oven should be hot by now. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil and spray with olive oil cooking spray. Place shrimp on cookie sheet in a single layer.

Spray shrimp with olive oil cooking spray and grind Spice Islands Garlic & Herb blend over shrimp liberally. Sprinkle with lemon pepper. Bake on 425 degrees for 5 minutes. Once it’s done, remove from cookie sheet and place atop the salad. Add dressing and toss well.

I hope y’all enjoy this salad as much as I did!

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Comments

  1. i love a good salad with some feta cheese……yum! thanks for sharing this recipe. i never thought to use a mason jar for dressing. happy weekend to you!
    <3

  2. You left a comment on my blog so I had to come over to say “Hi”, and I’m so glad I did. What a cute blog you have. I’m your newest follower. I can’t wait to come back and look around when I have more time. Nice to “meet” you.

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