Laiik Makes Greek Food: Dakos Salad and Feta Mousse

Laiik Makes Greek Food: Dakos Salad and Feta Mousse

For September, we're holding onto the taste of summer with Dakos Salad, a traditional Cretan recipe. Its simplicity, reliance on impeccable, fresh ingredients, and pairing of a satisfying crunch with the subtle sweetness of tomatoes makes it the quintessential Greek dish and we looooove it. In this version, we make a Feta mousse (recipe courtesy of Akis Petretzikis) in lieu of a more traditional crumbled feta topping. And it's pretty damn delicious. So grab your Greek sandals, head to the market for the freshest ingredients and come make Dakos salad with us!

Prep time: 10 - 15 minutes

Assembly time: 10 minutes

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients:

For the Salad: 

5 mini rusks (or 2-3 large rusks)

6 tomatoes depending on size

3 tsp of capers

8 kalamata olives (pitted and split into two halves or however desired)

Olive Oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Oregano

2 tbsp Parsley chopped 

For the Feta Mousse (taken from Akis Petretzikis, with small variations)

200 grams / 0.85 cups of crumbled feta cheese

50 ml / 0.2 cups of buttermilk (or if you cant find buttermilk, you can use sour cream and loosen it up with a dash or two of water)

Pepper

Lemon zest of one lemon

Oregano

2 tablespoons of olive oil

greek food, mediterranean diet, dakos salad, greek tomatoes

 

Preparation of the Dakos Salad

  1. Grate 4 tomatoes using the medium sized holes of a cheese grater. Discard the skins that remain. 
  2. Prepare the rusks. We used very hard ones, and to soften them up just a tad, we used just a dash of water on each rusk and then spooned the juices of the grated tomatoes to soften them while adding a delicious flavor. 
  3. Place the rusk on a plate and then spoon the rest of the grated tomato pulp evenly over all the rusks. 
  4. Chop the two remaining tomatoes and then set aside. 
  5. Season with some salt and oregano and drizzle some olive oil. Set aside while you make the feta mousse.

Preparation for the Feta Mousse

  1. In a food processor, add the feta cheese, the buttermilk (or buttermilk substitute), the olive oil, the oregano, pepper and half of the lemon zest. 
  2. Beat until the mixture is smooth. 
  3. Add the rest of the lemon zest.
  4. Season to taste with pepper and salt.

 feta mousse, greek food, mediterranean diet, made in greece

Mixing the two

  1. Spoon your feta mousse carefully and evenly  over the tomato pulp on the dakos.
  2. Now top it with capers, olives, parsley and your chopped tomatoes
  3. Drizzle with olive oil
  4. Serve immediately.

 

dakos salad, greek salad, greek tomatoes, mediterranean diet

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