Greek Salad

Well for those of you who don't know, I'm Italian, and there's this great line from a book called "Animal Vegetable Miracle" where the author is talking about her husband's Italian heritage and she says "It's my observation that when Italian genes are present, all others take cover." That would be my observation as well, unless ofcourse you meet a Greek. Now that my Mom dates a big Greek man, Mike, I joke that we have all become a little Greek. I'm sure all of you have someone like this in your life, and if not, you'd better get one because it's a whole lot of food and love. So this recipe comes from the newest member of our family, Mike. Thanks for all the food and love, you fit right in and then some. My poor quiet husband had know idea what he was in for when he married me, first the Italian crazyiness and food and now the Greek fun and fare, but he's loving every minute of it, and the food isn't too bad either.

-Greek Salad-

16 oz baby spinach
1 lb cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1 large onion, thinly sliced (I use purple onion, Mike likes white onion)
1/4 lb good feta, cut into bite size pieces (I get mine at the farmer's market from Rockhill Creamery, it's called Desert Red and the flavor is salty and rich.)
pepper to taste
(I don't use salt because the feta is so salty, it doesn't really need more.)

1. I layer all of the ingredients in a huge bowl staring with the spinach, then the tomatoes, onion, and feta sprinkle some pepper and then layer one more time starting with the spinach and so on.
2. I like to dress each serving individually but you can certainly dress the whole salad when ready to serve.

-Dressing-

Here's the thing, the dressing is a mixture of balsamic vinegar and homemade ranch from Mike's restaurant, The International Pantry. We just mix the two according to taste, so if you can't get your hands on Mike's ranch use you favorite and mix with the balsamic for this truly original salad delight. ENJOY!

*Spinach historically was regarded as a plant with remarkable abilities to restore energy, increase vitality, and improve the quality of the blood. Spinach contains twice as much iron as most other greens. Spinach is also one of the most alkaline-producing foods making it useful in helping regulate body pH. It is also one of the richest dietary sources of lutein making it an especially important food for promoting healthy eyesight and preventing muscular degeneration and cataracts. Spinach, like other chlorophyll and carotene containing vegetables, is a strong protector against cancer. Researchers have identified at least thirteen different flavonoid compounds in spinach that function as antioxidants and as anticancer agents.