Greek salad with barley rusks, tomatoes, cucumbers, olives, onions and Feta)
- 3 beefsteak tomatoes
- 1 hothouse cucumber, scored, quartered lengthwise, and cut crosswise into ¼” discs.
- 1 small red onion
- 20 Kalamata olives, pitted and thinly sliced crosswise
- 1 cup feta cheese, diced
- 1 Tbs capers, drained
- 1 tsp dried Greek oregano
- ½ cup red wine vinaigrette (olive oil, red wine vinegar, and lemon juice)
- 1 lemon, juiced
- coarse salt, to taste
- black pepper, freshly ground, to taste
- fresh garlic, chopped or minced, to taste
- 3 barley rusks
Barley rusk is whole grain barley or barley/whole wheat bread that is baked into a loaf, sliced, and then baked more to become very dry. You might substitute well toasted sour dough bread or bagels if you can’t find the rusks at your grocer.
Hydrate the barley rusks by pouring some water on top of them and letting them sit
and continue to rehydrate out of the water.
Then, add some dried Greek oregano. Season it with salt and pepper. Also add
some chopped garlic that you can turn into a paste.
Add some water if needed so that the rusks begin to bleed out some moisture when pressed with your fingers. Not so much so that they become soggy. The rusks in the salad will also soak up the other liquids.
Combine all the salad ingredients and place on top of the rusks which you have torn into pieces.