Cretan Salad

This Cretan Salad recipe is part of a series of recipes from the Cretan Diet on the Greek Island of Crete. As with all the ingredients that make up recipes from the Cretan Diet, the Cretan Salad recipe is very simple, tasty and nutritious.

All the ingredients for Cretan Diet recipes are locally sourced, entirely natural without artificial additives or preservatives. The traditional simple ways of combining ingredients, cooking and serving are the key to tasty food packed with goodness, flavour and taste.

The key to its success however lies in the quality and freshness of the salad vegetables and the soft goat's cheese. Look for organic, salad vegetables and use very good quality olive oil, like we have in Crete - it will really make a difference to the taste.

This tradition, authentic Cretan Salad is available throughout Crete and is an alternative to the ubiquitous Greek Salad. The Crete Salad uses soft goat's cheese instead of salty feta and has additional fresh vegetables and herbs. A must try in Crete!

Ingredients for Cretan Salad

Handful of salad greens (lettuce, rocket, etc)
Medium carrot, finely grated
Handful of finely chopped or grated cabbage
Medium tomato, finely chopped
½ small cucumber, chopped small
1 tablespoon fresh dill

1 tablespoon fresh parsley
Olive oil
Lemon juice
2 teaspoons Balsamic vinegar
100 g soft goat's cheese
2 dried figs, chopped (optional)

Method

Finely chop the salad greens and put in a large bowl. Add the carrot, cabbage, tomato, cucumber, dill and parsley. Mix together.

Sprinkle generously with olive oil. Add lemon juice and balsamic vinegar, and figs if used. Season with salt and pepper and toss together gently.

Empty the salad onto a serving dish and sprinkle with crumbled soft goat's cheese.

How to Follow the Cretan Diet

We are going to help you eat like they do in Crete. This will open up for you a whole new world of tasty, healthy eating and Cretan cooking that will improve your well-being and even prolong your life. (Be sure to drive carefully and stop smoking to reap the benefits of a longer lifespan!)

These are the basic rules for the Cretan Diet:

Use olive oil as the principal fat, replacing all other fats and oils for frying and dressings
Drink a moderate amount of wine, normally with an evening meal; about one to two glasses per day for men and one glass per day for women
Eat plenty of fresh fruit as a typical daily dessert; limit sweets with a significant amount of sugar and saturated fat
Include in your diet lots of food from plant sources, including fruits and vegetables, breads and grains, beans, nuts, and seeds
Eat low to moderate amounts of cheese and yoghurt daily
Consume low to moderate amounts of fish and poultry weekly; and limit eggs to a maximum of four per week
Include red meat rarely perhaps just once per week