64. avocado, tomato and feta salad

   It's Feta Cheese Time           

   Feta cheese is a Greek cheese usually made from sheep or goats' milk. It is then brined or pickled to give the salty, tangy taste and crumbly consistency. Modern commercially made feta is made from cow's milk. However Greece and Bulgaria still prepare is mostly from sheep or goats' milk. A single serving is about 38g. If you find the feta too salty soak it in water for 5 minutes to remove the saltiness. It is very difficult to find feta cheese in the normal grocery stores in India. To make paneer taste like feta, I would usually marinate it in salt and lemon for 2 to 3 hours. Though it doesn't taste exactly like feta, its still not a bad substitute. In Kenya, I buy Browns Feta cheese as the other cheese producers still have not got it right. Their feta cheese usually tastes like paneer or its extremely smelly and slimy.It doesn't even crumble well. Browns Feta cheese comes in various flavours so use whichever you like. To store the remaining cheese, leave it in its brine or oil otherwise it will get dry.





AVOCADO, TOMATO AND FETA SALAD
For 2

 1 medium avocado
1 large tomato (or 8-10 cherry or plum tomatoes)
½ cup feta cheese crumbled or cubed
2 tbsp chopped spring onion
some green lettuce leaves or greens
1 tbsp lemon juice

Balsamic vinegar dressing:
¼ tsp salt
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
½ tsp pepper powder
4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp honey (optional)
  1. Peel the avocado and cut into chunks or thick slices. Add the lemon juice and mix gently.
  2. Cut the tomato into chunks or thick slices. If using cherry or plum tomatoes cut into half.
  3. Mix all the ingredients.
  4. Mix all the ingredients for the dressing.
  5. Add dressing to the salad and serve.
Tips :
  • If you use plain feta then add fresh herbs of your choice.
  • Can use spinach instead of lettuce.
  • Add dressing just before serving the salad to prevent the lettuce from wilting.
  • I prefer to serve the dressing on the side.
  • This salad tastes equally good without the dressing. Add more lemon, salt and pepper and you have a super healthy salad.
You may want to check out the following:
avocado and cheese salad
mango,avocado and bean salad


Comments

  1. Jonathan ParadisFebruary 7, 2013 at 7:53 PM

    Thanks for the tip on how to convert paneer into a feta-like cheese. It'll be very helpful for this expat who's attempting to cook in Bombay :)

    ReplyDelete

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