Greek Salad

Soups, salads and such are my go-to lunch or light dinner. They're great at helping me keep my weight in check, plus they are loaded with healthy vegetables. The thing is, salads can get boring, especially if you eat the same salad every day. Here's a recipe for a quick Greek salad to add to your repertoire.

Greek Salad

Grab a large, wide bowl
Add a few handfulls of chopped Romaine lettuce. Then add a bit more. It's good for you.

Toppers: mix and match to your preference
diced red or green bell peppers
Chopped tomato
sliced kalamata olives
Thinly sliced onions, OR the piece de resistance, Jennifer and Jason Denton's Sweet Onions (red onions oven roasted with honey and balsamic vinegar). WELL worth the trouble and time involved in making a batch (recipe follows)
Cucumbers or Persian Cucumbers
Feta Cheese
Hummus
Taboulleh
Any leftover cooked meats you may have in the fridge

Dressing:
I use a simple red wine vinaigrette (just vinegar and light olive oil), but you can jazz the dressing up with some added chopped oregano and/or basil (fresh or dried)

Serve with whole wheat pita bread

Sweet Onions (from Simple Italian Sandwiches by Jennifer and Jason Denton)
5 medium red onions (about 30 ounces total)
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 T honey
1 t pepper

Set oven to 250. Cutting through the stem end of the peeled onions, cut onions in eighths, then cut then in half horizontally. Mix onions and all other ingredients in a bowl, then mound everything up on a cookie sheet (lined with a Silpat to save your sanity when doing dishes) and place in the oven. These will need to cook for 3 hours, and will need to be stirred every half hour, so the onions on the edges don't get overly dry. You will be rewarded for your careful tending to rich, sweet pliant onions that make great additions to your sandwiches and salads. Place them in an airtight container to refrigerate - they will keep for a LONG time.

Enjoy your healthy mealtime escape to the Mediterranean!