Cretan wedding salad

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 4 m.-large tomato(s), fully ripe
• 1 m.-large salad cucumber(s), green, slender, seedless
• 1 medium-sized onion(s), brown, approx. 60 g
• ½ tomato pepper, green
• ½ tomato pepper, red
• ½ m.-sized carrot(s)
• 1 m.-large pepper, red, long, medium hot
• 2 leaves of white cabbage (large leaves)
• 50 g chives, fresh or frozen
• 100 g honeydew melon(s), fresh
• 50 g almond sticks, white
• 80 g feta cheese
• 2 tsp chicken broth, granulated
• 1 tbsp, heaped Greek salad herbs, dried
• ½ tsp mace powder, alternatively freshly grated nutmeg
• ½ tbsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 pinch(s) cardamom powder
• 1 pinch of ground sage
• 1 tsp white sugar
• 2 medium-sized garlic cloves, fresh
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• e.g. almond sticks, white, or pine nuts
• e.g. Feta cheese, shredded
• n. B. Olives, dark brown, with stone
• n. B. Egg(s), optional

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 8 minutes; Total time approx. 48 minutes

A superlative salad, not just a feast for the eyes. Served with or without egg, depending on the region. Recipe from southern Crete.

Wash the fruit and vegetables and chop into bite-sized pieces. Peel and coarsely grate the carrot. Peel the onion, quarter it lengthwise, and cut it crosswise into 4 mm thick slices. Quarter the cucumber lengthwise and cut it crosswise into 5 mm thick slices. Cut the piece of honeydew melon into approximately 8 x 8 mm cubes. Crush the garlic cloves. Cut the peppers crosswise into thin rings, leaving the seeds and discarding the stems. Remove the central stalk of the white cabbage leaves. Cut the chives into approximately 2 mm thick rings. Sprinkle all the dry dressing ingredients over the salad, mix, and let stand for 10 minutes, then add the vinegar and mix in. Crumble the feta cheese over the salad. Hard-boil the optional eggs, rinse them in a cool place, peel them, halve them lengthwise, and use them for garnishing. Add the olive oil just before serving. Divide the salad among serving plates, garnish, and serve with warm white bread. Recipe source: Mr. Olympios, Armonia Hotel, Crete.