Greek salad — horiatiki, the “village salad” — is the celebrated composition of ripe tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, Kalamata olives, and slabs of feta cheese, dressed with olive oil and oregano and notably without lettuce. It is Greece’s national salad: chunky, colourful, and unapologetically simple, letting peak-season produce speak. The saltiness of the feta and olives plays against the tomatoes’ sweetness and the oil’s fruitiness — a balance no bottled dressing improves. Served with crusty bread for mopping the juices, it is both starter and light meal. Authenticity matters to Greeks: the ingredients are few and specific, and additions like lettuce mark the tourist version. Nutritionally it is a model Mediterranean dish.