Greek Salad

It feels almost sacrilegious to be posting on a non-Christmas-y topic this time of year, but we ate Greek Salad last night for dinner and it was so delicious I had to share the recipe!  Yesterday, after chopping down our Christmas tree, Caleb and I went into Spokane for a shopping trip.  We hadn't been on a major grocery run for almost a month due to our November travels, so we headed out armed with lists galore and hit up Yokes, Walmart, Winco, Costco, Zales (bi-annual ring checkup), The Cozy Quilt (sewing supplies for Christmas gifts), and Michaels.  Caleb was such a help and good sport about all the shopping and we had a lot of fun together. We were so proud of ourselves for emerging from Costco with only vitamins and yeast (such a good deal there) even though we were tempted to buy more of all the delicious little treats we sampled.  :)  Lest you think we have impeccable self-control, we did buy some chocolate-covered cinnamon bears from the bulk candy section later at Winco...

Anyway, on to the recipe!  When we got home, I was so excited to have lots of fresh vegetables that I decided we must have salad for dinner.  I have no idea where I originally got this recipe, but my history with it dates back to my 4-H days when I made this recipe at the county fair for a Sandwich/Salad contest.

                                          Greek Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
raw spinach leaves, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
1/2 a red onion, peeled and sliced into half rings
1 large tomato, cut into bite-sized wedges
1 half cucumber, peeled and sliced
12 or so black olives
1/4 lb. feta cheese, crumbled

Toss the salad ingredients together in a bowl (if making ahead, I like to store the cut veggies together in a small container so they don't make the greens soggy and the onions in their own little container so they don't over-permeate the other veggies).  Then measure the following ingredients into a small canning jar:

3 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. lemon juice or wine vinegar
1 tsp. Dijon mustard (or yellow if that's all you have on hand)
1 tsp. dried oregano (very important!)
Dash salt and pepper

Fasten lid and shake jar vigorously until everything is well-mixed.  Pour onto the salad and toss everything well if serving immediately to a crowd.  If serving later or in smaller portions, refrigerate dressing and salad separately, dish up salad "naked", and pour a small amount of dressing on each individual portion.  This way, the salad keeps longer in the fridge and doesn't get soggy.  By the way, the dressing doesn't look or even taste very appetizing by itself, at least to me.  But just trust me, try it on the salad mingled with pungent onions, crisp cucumbers, salty cheese - I think it is delicious!