Cucumber, blueberry and feta salad with lettuce, almonds and a honey vinaigrette

I’m not a professional blogger, food blogging is my hobby, so I wouldn’t share with you anything other than what I cook for us to eat at home. And these days, this is it. All sorts of light dishes in sync with the summer vibes and super hot days we’ve been having here in Holland.

What I cook daily, apart from seasonality, is largely determined by our appetites and what I have available in my fridge and cupboards. I use up everything and I never let anything go to waste. I believe it’s a shame to throw away food and ingredients, so I regularly go through my cupboards to see what is close to its expiration date (flours, dried legumes, rice) and go through my fridge looking for any forgotten nuts, seeds, cheeses, dried and fresh fruits and of course vegetables that I can use in my dishes.

It always happens that I have cucumber in my fridge. All. the. time. Mainly because I make tzatziki every other day, but also because I add it to horiatiki (Greek) salad, which during the summer I make almost every day. But still, we never seem to eat it all. So, this salad was the best way to use it up, together with blueberries that can be found in abundance this time of year at the Dutch markets.

This salad is so refreshing and light yet deeply satisfying and fulfilling with a balance of flavors and textures that play off of each other.

Crunchy, fresh cucumber and nutty, earthy, whole almonds, juicy, sweet and acidic blueberries, crisp lettuce, tangy, creamy feta, refreshing mint. The dressing is made with rich, extra virgin olive oil and sharp white-wine vinegar, to add a much welcomed acidity, and with some honey to sweeten things up. It could be a meal all on its own, for all you vegetarian souls out there, and it can accompany meat, chicken and fish dishes.

Cucumber, blueberry and feta salad with lettuce, almonds and a honey vinaigrette

I have also made this salad with grapes instead of blueberries and it is equally delicious, so use whichever fruit is available were you live. If you use grapes, you can substitute the honey in the vinaigrette with petimezi (grape molasses).

Serve with fresh bread or rusks (Greek barley ones if you can find them).

Yield: 4 salad or appetizer servings

Ingredients
300 g fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
1 cucumber (about 200 g), thinly sliced (no need to peel it)
10 large butter lettuce leaves (or other kind lettuce), chopped
3 spring onions, finely chopped
A big handful of fresh mint leaves
2 big handfuls of whole, unsalted, raw almonds
200 g feta, crumbled or cubed

for the vinaigrette
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp white-wine vinegar
1 tsp runny honey (I used Greek wild thyme honey)
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, 5-6 turns of the pepper mill


Preparation
Whisk in small bowl all the ingredients for the dressing.
In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients for the salad and toss with ¾ of the vinaigrette. Give it a taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
Serve immediately in a big salad bowl/platter or on individual plates, and add more vinaigrette to taste.