Indulgent Thursday: Santorini Salad

04.07.11
Pin It PIN IT!

Every once in a while, you just have to eat food that tastes good and isn’t that good for you. No one is perfect, me included, and some days I eat fatty & delicious food. I can enjoy these foods without any guilt because it’s not a regular occurance and I’m a human being. There are people out there who eat healthy food for every meal of every day of the year, but I’m just not one of them. I eat healthfully 95% of the time. The rest of the time you can find me indulging in french fries, ice cream, cake, pizza, steak and this delectable santorini salad. Compared with other fatty contenders like the Big Mac or mashed potatoes, this salad looks like a saint. But with 3/4 cup of olive oil and 8 ounces of feta, it isn’t exactly diet friendly.  But this recipe is one of my FAVORITES from my mother and is just worth every little fat gram.

And yes, I realize indulging in a pasta salad does not make a nutrition rebel. Maybe I am a crazed health nut after all. However, I can only make this a few times a year because I literally can not control myself around this salad. I eat BOWLS of this in one sitting. Multiple bowls. And I’m not even embarrassed to admit that. This is a perfect salad for those hot summer nights (that I’m anxiously awaiting for, weather Gods) as well as for Easter brunch and spring picnics!

10-12 1 cup servings per batch.

Santorini Salad

What You’ll Need:

  • 1 box of penne pasta
  • 4 medium tomatoes, sliced into small chunks
  • 1  cucumber, sliced into chunks
  • 1 8oz container of feta cheese
  • fresh dill, chopped
  • 3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil
  • 3/4 cup of white wine vinegar
  • Dashes of salt

How to Make It:

  • Bring 6-8 cups of water to boil. Add salt and pasta to boiling water and cook until noodles are soft. Rinse and set aside to cool completely.
  • While pasta is cooling, chop cucumbers, tomatoes and dill. Once pasta has completely cooled, mix it with the veggies and dill in a large bowl. (I used the amazing wooden bowl my aunt got us for the wedding!)

  • Add in feta, olive oil and vinegar. Mix with a wooden spoon and chill for 30-45 minutes. Once chilled, enjoy! (Try not to eat as many bowls as I did!)

Simple, fresh and absolutely delicious!

Nutritional Information per 1 cup: 395 calories and 13.5 grams of fat.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Comments

  1. Posted by Kimberly Fujitaki on
    Friday, April 8th, 2011
    feta cucumbers and tomatoes what could be better. this is lovely i enjoy this type of pasta salad often

    I love the additional freshness of dill added to it. beautiful
    Reply
  2. Posted by Jason Phelps on
    Tuesday, April 12th, 2011
    I just had a wine that would go great with this dish. Now I need some more of both!

    Jason
    Reply
  3. Posted by Kelly on
    Thursday, April 14th, 2011
    WOW this looks great! Perfect for the summer :) I can't wait to make this recipe, thanks so much for sharing!
    Reply
  4. Posted by Parsley Sage on
    Tuesday, April 19th, 2011
    Fresh and delicious. I'd proly do orange bell pepper instead of tomato...then I'd be snarfing bowls along with you :)

    Thanks for swinging by Deep Dish!
    Reply