Grilled Greek Salad

This has been a wonderful week. Tuesday we spent the evening at Nederland's pizza night, where our favorite mobile oven, Crust, dished out some of the most delicious cheesy treats. Bluegrass music, mountain views, a beverage in hand, pizza, and Blake's company are about all I could ask for in life. Thursday we ate 2 for 1 Chipotle (what a steal) and hung out at Boulder's arcade, Press Play. I handily beat Blake at Mortal Combat and he took me down in Big Buck Hunter. I cooked lamb meatballs and the grilled greek salad I'm sharing with you today. While none of these activities are particularly extraordinary, they all make up the beauty of our day-to-day lives. This week I have found myself really enjoying the day-to-day.

This grilled greek salad looks kind of boring but I assure you that you will love it. I'm grilling all my salads this year after this one. This salad is for my mother who was happy I posted the green bean, potato, and tuna salad with olive dressing. What? You mean we can't all live purely on fries covered in cheese or breaded chicken sandwiches and hope to live long and healthy lives? I guess not. Mother knows best. The oregano dressing on this salad and slight char on the onions, tomatoes, and lettuce put it over the top. So easy, so good, and perfect for a summer meal.

Grilled greek salad
Serves 4, adapted from Saveur

For the dressing 
Juice from 2 lemons
5 tbs white wine
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbs dried oregano
1 tbs thyme
1/2 an onion, halved again
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

For the salad
Olive oil to coat grill grates
1/4 cup feta plus more for on top the salad
2 medium tomatoes, cut into quarters
Red onion, cut into 8 wedges
Salt and pepper
6-8 wooden or metal skewers
1 large head of romaine lettuce, cut into 4 wedges lengthwise
20 kalamata olives


Place all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth.

Gently toss tomatoes, feta, and onion with 1/2 of the dressing in a bowl. Skewer tomatoes and onion alternating and place in a shallow dish and pour any marinade from the bowl over them. Let marinade for at least 15 minutes and up to 12 hours.

While the skewers are marinating, oil the grill grate with a towel dipped in oil and then heat the grill to medium heat.

Remove skewers from the dish and grill for 6-8 minutes turning halfway through. Brush the romaine with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill for 3 minutes until slightly wilted.

To serve remove the vegetable from the skewers and serve on top of romaine drizzled with remaining dressing, feta, and olives.