Worth Cultivating

Worth Cultivating by Gil Elgren, 1952

Whoa! I came "home" to Ormond Thursday night to find my herb garden kicking butt! It's like a jungle out there! I am pleased as punch to find such gorgeous edible delicacies just waiting for me to pluck them!



Since the oregano is really out of control, I took advantage of it with the help of one of my favorite blogs, Kalyn's Kitchen. The only change I made was in using reduced fat feta cheese because that's what I had on hand.


Greek Salad with Marinated Onions and Oregano


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1 medium Vidalia onion
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil -- plus more for serving if needed
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar -- plus more for serving if needed
2 small cucumbers -- (2 to 3)
3 small tomatoes -- (3 to 4)
8 Kalamata olive -- (8 to 10), pitted
1 tablespoon fresh oregano -- or more if needed, chopped
1/4 cup reduced fat feta Cheese -- or more if needed, crumbled
fresh ground black pepper to taste

About 4-8 hours before serving the salad, peel onion and slice thinly. Separate onion into rings and put in small ziploc bag. Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar and pour into bag. Let onions marinate in refrigerator until ready to assemble the salad

After onions have marinated for desired time, remove from refrigerator and drain the dressing into a small bowl. (I do this by opening one end of the ziploc bag and holding it over the bowl while tipping the bag.) Taste dressing and add more olive oil and balsamic vinegar if needed, whisking into dressing.

Wash cucumbers and cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick. (Larger cucumbers will need to be cut in half and if you don't have small cucumbers you may also need to peel them.) Cut tomatoes into halves, then cut each half into fourths to make eight pieces. Wash oregano and chop with chef's knife.

In large mixing bowl, toss together marinated onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, and olives. Toss with desired amount of dressing. Sprinkle with oregano and crumble Feta cheese over salad. Arrange on two plates, season with fresh-ground black pepper, and serve immediately.

Serves 2.
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Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 322 Calories; 23g Fat (60.4% calories from fat); 11g Protein; 23g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 10mg Cholesterol; 669mg Sodium. 6 WW POINTS.


Oh, my! This was absolutely delicious, so glad I doubled the recipe so I can enjoy it again today. Marinating those onions really made the flavor pop! I served it alongside simple grilled chicken and a baked potato, making a dinner fairly high in POINTS but oh-so-worth it! Besides, I worked off a few calories during an early morning walk with Loki. I'm recovering with some java and my laptop but he has other things in mind!



We are off to the beach shortly, hope I can convince Beren to take a long walk with me but he's not quite as excited by that idea as my four-legged companion!

Have a Beauty-Full Day,