It's All Greek To Salad

Having largely processed the small truckload of sugar I knowingly and in full awareness of the consequences ingested over the weekend, I'm ready for a salad. But, true to my all-encompassing cheese phase, I want it covered in feta. That leaves exactly one option: Greek salad. I really love being able to justify huge amounts of cheese.

While many spring for cheddar, provolone, American (gasp!) or some such other easy-to-ignore cheese come lunchtime, I demand tangy, briny, crumbly yet creamy feta, preferably paired with something green and leafy. It's sheepy, yet goaty, for a fresh-from-the-farm flavor that can't be beat. It has a protected designation of origin, just like Parmeggiano or Champagne. And it's not a Greek salad without it.

Chopped romaine, cucumber, tomato, red onion and kalamata olives make up the non-cheese components (or "lesser ingredients") of this beloved lunch. Greek oregano lends that grassy, peppery sharpness to traditional olive oil-based Greek dressing (which often also contains feta, just saying) and the whole deal is rounded out by a nice warm hunk of bread or pita.

Guess what else occasionally accompanies Greek salad? Stuffed grape leaves. Or Greek spice-rubbed chicken. Heavenly as Greek fries are, I like a salad alongside a giant hefty lamb burger with a thick slice of feta on top, or, as I like to call it, a Greeceburger. But you'll need the appetite of a titan to polish it off. A salad for rabbits, it is not. Besides, World Vegan Day was yesterday.