Greek Chopped Salad with Lemon Shrimp and Pita Bread

All the favorite flavors of Greek cuisine are front and center in this easy to prepare but hard to forget dinner.  Lemon, oregano, crisp vegetables, olives and feta combine to make a unique chopped salad.  Finish this off with marinated shrimp and soft pita bread for a quick, anytime dinner.  The key to the salad is to dice the vegetables finely – about 1/4 inch – so they easily blend together in a mouthful.

For information on shrimp, sizing and deveining, see Shrimp.

Greek Chopped Salad
1 generous cup peeled and seeded cucumber
1 generous cup diced red pepper
1 generous cup diced green pepper
1/3 cup finely diced red onion
1/3 cup coarsely chopped calamata olives
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 to 2 tablespoons hot pepperoncini, finely cut*
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoons olive oil

Combine all the vegetables, olives, feta and pepperoncini.

In a small bowl, whisk together the oregano, pepper, lemon juice and olive oil.  Pour over the vegetable mix.  Toss well.  Refrigerate until needed.

*Pepperoncini have a way of squirting everywhere when cut.  To prevent this, make a small cut in the bottom of the pepper.  Drain the juice back into the jar and then cut as called for.

Lemon Shrimp
Grated zest of one lemon
1/3 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 garlic clove, minced
12 raw shrimp (21 to 26 size or larger)*

Combine all the ingredients but the shrimp.  Set aside.

Peel and devein the shrimp as seen in .  Bring 2 quarts of water to a brisk boil.  Cook the shrimp for 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through.  Immediately put in the marinade for several hours.

*Raw shrimp have much more flavor when cooked.  For convenience, cooked shrimp can be used.  Shrimp are sold by how many come to a pound.  The less to a pound the larger the shrimp.

Serve with soft Pita Bread.  One of the best ones I have found in St. Louis are Aronold’s which are available in grocery stores.