Mediterranean Pea Salad Recipe

Fresh, tangy, and crunchy, this is a great salad for your Independence Day picnic. It's healthy, too. I've added variations at the end of the recipe for turning it into a main dish salad.

In case you're tempted to use bottled salad dressing, please don't. This is super easy and bottled dressings just add too much sodium and oil and "bottled dressing funk" flavor to an otherwise super delicious salad. Here's the easy recipe:

Mediterranean Pea Salad

10 ounces frozen small green peas, cooked in boiling, salted water 4 minutes then shocked in ice water
1 medium cucumber, peeled and seeded if store-bought, diced
1/2 medium Vidalia or other sweet onion, diced, or sliced green onions
1 medium rib celery, diced
2 small tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 medium sweet bell pepper, any color(s)
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
2 ounces feta cheese
Juice of one lemon
Red wine vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper (optional)

Drain peas thoroughly.
Seed tomatoes by slicing them "across the equator" and then use your finger to scoop out the seeds.
Combine all ingredients to and including feta cheese in a bowl.
Drizzle lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and a small amount of olive oil over the veggies. Stir gently and well, then taste and adjust the vinegar/oil ratio if needed.
Salt and pepper to taste. (I think the cheese and olives add enough saltiness, and I don't like black pepper, so I don't add either of these to my salad.)
Chill well before serving.

Variations: Add rice or orzo pasta and chick peas or diced, grilled chicken breast to this salad to make it a meal. For this, plate each serving on a layer of leaf lettuce on each plate.

With love from me to you...
GG