Mel's Meals - Winter Greek Salad

Mel this recipe is as easy as the other meals, and works great as a side dish (i'd have it with chicken and rice) but it also works as a hearty vegetarian meal on rice. It's super healthy and delicious! As you probably know Mel, I'm a huge Greek salad fan, however I find I don't eat as much of it during the winter. I find I'm much more playful with salads in the summer. I decided it would be fun to put a spin on the classic greek salad, by making it into a warm salad. This time of year I tend to stick with hot meals, seems more comforting on a cold winter night! 
Basically I roasted all of the veggies in the oven, added olives about half way through and once out of the oven I placed a piece of feta on top and let it warm up by covering the dish in tin foil for 5-10 minutes. I was surprised with how well this turned out! I really think you would enjoy this one Mel! The key is to roast the vegetables, as apposed to frying them.

This feeds 4 people as a side dish, or 2 as a meal.

Winter Greek Salad

- 6 Cloves of Garlic

- 1/4 yellow, Red, Orange, Yellow peppers

- 1 head of Broccoli

- 10 Cherry Tomatoes

- 6 Kalamata Olives

- 1/4 tsp fresh Thyme

- 4-6 Fresh Basil leaves
- Feta Cheese (any kind will work, I used sun-dried tomatoes)

- Olive Oil

- Salt & Pepper

Preheat Oven 400 degrees.

 

 Step 1 - Cut off one side of each pepper. Should be about 1/4 of the pepper. Cut the piece of pepper in 3 equal pieces length wise and then in half. Cut Broccoli in half and place the vegetables including the cherry tomatoes in the glass baking dish.

 Step 2- Add the 6 cloves of Garlic, keep the skin on as I find it gives a better cooking result. Pour enough Olive Oil to lightly coat the vegetables. Add 2 tablespoons of water to the bottom of the dish. Now add the fresh basil, thyme and salt & pepper. Mix all together.

Mel I know you're a salt addict, but go easy on it at this stage, as the feta will add a good amount of salt flavor to the dish later on.

Step 3 - Place the dish in the center of the oven and let bake for 25 minutes.

Step 4 -  After the 25 minutes, take the dish out of the oven and add the kalamata olives. Return the dish to the oven and let it bake for another  35 minutes.

Step 5- Remove the dish from the oven and place feta on top of the veggies, cover in tin foil to heat the cheese.

Add to your dish or lay on a bed of rice!