Today I'm talking a little bit about food!
I am not the best chef in the world. Before recently I spent more money on takeout than groceries mostly because I've always had a really complicated relationship to food.
I'm a much better chef now though, and I'm working to make my relationship with food better for me personally! I'm learning a lot about cooking and I'm getting better and better in the kitchen, but the thing I have always been the bomb at is making salads. I'm going to share my favorite go-to with you today: my Mom's Nice Greek Salad.
A normal/traditional Greek Salad doesn't have lettuce and instead consists of cucumber, tomato, feta, and olive oil with oregano. The salad I'm showing you is totally different than that (lol) so while it's technically not a Greek salad, it's a Geek Salad in my heart.
This is a salad I grew up with and I have a strong emotional attachment to. My mom makes this salad for us for everything from family dinners to huge parties, and now I make it all the time for myself and the special people in my life! When my Aunt used to come over before I was born, she would always ask my mom to make her "nice Greek salad" and my family has called it that ever since.
Here it is from my family to yours! It's easy, delish, and a sure-fire hit. Grab a ton of Feta and let's get tossin'.
Shoutout to the little bottle of Ouzo in the background. I'm so Greek.
To make this Nice Greek Salad you'll need:
- Lettuce
- Feta (I'm loving the TJ's Crumbled Feta right now but the best feta, in general, is Velbreso)
- Chicken
- Avocado
- Red Onion
- Lemon
- Red Wine Vinegar
- Canola or Olive Oil
- Greek Oregano
- Other Vegtables of your Choice*
You'll want to start with chopping up all your veggies. It's called "misenplats" and means "setting up". When you cook you always want to prepare all your ingredients before you start so you're ready once it gets goin'! Chop whatever needs to be chopped, have every ingredient out in front of you that you'll need, and mentally/emtionally/spirituually prep so that everything flows mre easily.
*My mom always puts cucumber and tomato in the salad in addition to everything else, but I don't like cucumber or tomatoes. You do you though bb.
Next is getting the chicken ready! If you're a veggie skip this step. I usually rub with a little garlic powder and cook in a pan with a little butter. Cook until white all the way through and set aside.
Then the dressing! One part red wine vinegar, two parts olive or canola oil, and lemon juice to taste. For me it's usually about half a lemon. You can add in a pinch or two of Greek oregano if you wish and then whisk!
Final steps are throwing it all in a bowl and tossin' it up! Easy peasy.
Food is something that I often shy away from talking about. I have been on diet after diet after diet in my life so food was always either not to be enjoyed/just fuel or was a naughty secret indulgence. When I was younger there were many many times where I would starve myself all day and then binge at night. I was bigger than everyone else at school so I didn't want to have people look at me eat. In my mind sometimes I would think that if I didn't talk about food and wasn't seen eating, no one could point at me and say "well that's why you're fat" and make me wrong for the body that I have. It took me such a long time to come to grips with having an eating disorder because in my mind eating disorders only came with being thin. It has been a really long road and I'm sure that it will take time to change some deeply ingrained behavior surrounding eating and food, but it's getting better all the time.
I'm learning as I get older that cooking and making something can be fun and rewarding! Cooking for me isn't to lose weight, it's not to punish myself, and it's not to fit into some mold society wants to push onto me. Cooking is a form of self-care! I always feel good after I've made and fed myself something delicious. I am a human being who needs food to live and I feel good after I cook that food myself! Sometimes too I order a pizza and feel good then also. Balance.
Hopefully, by now you're chompin' on a delicious Nice Greek Salad! I love sharing family recipes and moments with you and I love when you share them with me so tell me about a favorite family dish of your own on Facebook!
