Cucumber Prosciutto Greek Salad

Since November, I’ve been looking for a way to incorporate this fun new kitchen gadget into a recipe!

I first saw this amazing piece of kitchen machinery on Pinterest and thought “oh, I need one!”

A little Googling and $5 later, this baby was all mine!  Problem was, it was being shipped from Shanghai and “free shipping” on Amazon from Shanghai means 30 day shipping times!  No worries, I wasn’t in a rush, this was definitely a “for-the-fun-of-it” purchase rather than a “for-the-necessity-of-it” purchase!

So fast forward to yesterday and my decision to make a delicious Greek salad using my “Shanghai Slicer” (as I’ve lovingly named it).  You can imagine the excitement that has built up over the last two months, then this happened…

You have got to be kidding me!  I then cursed myself for approximately 7 minutes over why I felt the need to buy the largest cucumber in the store, then proceeded by slicing the cucumber in half… and this happened!

One. Big. Mushy. Mess.  In the words of Elf, “Son of a Nutcracker!”

Bound and determined to find something in my kitchen that I could turn into dainty little Shanghai spirals, I grabbed a small red potato… and this happened!

Now that’s what I’m talking about people!  Too bad I was making a Greek salad, whomp whomp!

But don’t you worry, I placed my one little spiraled potato on a baking sheet and into the oven with a drizzle of olive oil and a dash of kosher salt to test for future posts.  They came out like little spiral chips of heaven!

It reminded me of those Potato Twister things you get at the fair. Aww fair food, the one day of the year where I eat fried food until my pants bust, regret it for a week, then forget about it a year later and do it all over again!

I digress. Back to that Greek Salad recipe you’re all here for! Never fear, it still happened, even without the use of the “Shanghai Slicer”, fortunately my awesome brother gifted me a new mandolin for Christmas (the kitchen instrument, not the musical instrument, I had some confused friends when  I told them I loved using my new mandolin in the kitchen, haha.)

I used the mandolin to thinly slice the cucumber into delicate ribbons and tossed it with thinly sliced prosciutto, feta and veggies for this delicious salad!

Ingredients

• 1 large cucumber (thinly sliced)
• ½ red pepper (thinly sliced)
• ½ red onion (thinly sliced)
• 1 tomato (diced)
• 1 oz prosciutto (thinly sliced)
• ¼ cup feta cheese (crumbled)

Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

• ½ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 lemon (juiced)
• 1 tbsp fresh basil (chopped)
• 1 tsp oregano
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp kosher salt

Begin by thinly slicing the cucumber. As mentioned above, a kitchen mandolin works great for this!

I then also used my mandolin to slice the red pepper and onion.

Next, add the tomatoes and prosciutto.

Toss well then top with the feta cheese.

Next, prepare the dressing by whisking all of the ingredients together in a small bowl.

Pour on top of the salad.

And dig in!

Probably the lightest, most delicate salad I’ve ever eaten, yet still packs so much flavor!

This salad would be perfect as a side dish or appetizer with Moussaka!

Switch up your salad today with this delicious, new Greek favorite!

♣ Vegetarian Option: Omit prosciutto to make this recipe vegetarian.

♦ Gluten Free Option: This recipe is gluten-free.

♥ All pottery seen on the littleleopardbook can be purchased by visiting www.longaberger.com/muffetbond or e-mailing keepsakebl@sbcglobal.net.