Recipe of the Week from Marci Nevin… Greek Salad with Avo-Ziki Dressing

My good friend Marci, who has already contributed to my website HERE, has a great recipe for all of us to try (including me, as I haven’t gotten to it yet, but plan on making it later on the week).  This will help me get on track after my donut burger gaffe from last weekend. I’ll let Marci take over from here…

August in California is HOT. While the heat of the summer has never swayed my eating habits, I know plenty of people who don’t like eating heavy foods this time of year. My fiancée is one of them, and as a result he has eaten a big salad for dinner every night for the past few months.

Last week, one of my clients gave me 6 pounds of frozen, wild caught halibut that I’ve been eager to eat. Since we typically eat dinner at with my parents on Sunday night, I thought it would be a good time to grill it up. I was trying to find the right type of side dish to accompany the fish, and I came across this salad, which looked delicious. It ended up being the perfect summertime meal for a very warm evening. Jason got his salad fix and I got to enjoy the halibut, so it was a win-win.

While this may look like your typical Greek salad, I promise you that it is much more. This Avo-Ziki dressing is incredible, and it truly transformed the dish. It’s almost more of a sauce, really, thereby making it very versatile. I ended up putting it on my fish as well, but it would also go great on top of a burger, chicken or other type of meat/fish, or as a dressing for a different type of salad.  I hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Greek Salad

• 4 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
• ½ cup cucumber slices
• ½ cup Kalamata olives, halved
• ¼ cup Avo-Ziki dressing
• 2 T (or less) extra-virgin olive oil

Mix romaine, tomatoes, olives, and cucumbers in a large bowl. In a small bowl, mix avo-ziki sauce and olive oil. Top the salad with the dressing.

Avo-Ziki Sauce

• 1 ripe avocado
• 2 T extra-virgin olive oil
• ¼ c grated cucumber
• Juice of one lemon
• 1 clove grated garlic
• Sea salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 t fresh dill, finely chopped (I left this out as I didn’t have any on hand)

Combine all ingredients by hand or with a small food processor or hand blender.

It sounds great, Marci!  Thanks for sharing this with everyone.  I can’t wait to try it!

NOTE: This recipe comes from the Diane Sanfilippo’s book, “Practical Paleo.”  You can find the book HERE.