The Greek Salad Dressing Dilemma

A while back Sue and I went on a bit of a road trip to Chilliwack to visit a friend (Hi Shannon!) and do a bit of shopping. Shannon took us to a wonderful Greek Restaurant named Greek Islands Restaurant. The food was amazing and so reasonably priced it was crazy!

If you have the opportunity to go there you really must.

I insist.

Go.

Now.

Anyway, why I am sharing this is because it relates to the topic of this blog - Greek Salad Dressings.

The Greek Islands Restaurant had the MOST addictive Greek Salad Dressing on their Greek Salad. It was a creamy, garlic-y, not overpowering yet still extremely flavourful, blend of wonderfulness. Shannon warned us that we would be hooked and she was right. She said she and her girlfriends had tried many different variations on dressing recipes to try and duplicate the taste but had not yet succeeded. Sue and I decided to give it a try.

We found three different yet kind-of the same Greek Dressing recipes online and set out to make them with some changes to try and match the restaurant's flavour.

.

 Creamy Greek Salad Dressing

Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp sugar

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dried oregano

salt & pepper

1 Tbsp fresh dill

3/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled

3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions

In blender or food processor, whirl all ingredients together except buttermilk for one minute. With the blender (or food processor) running, slowly pour in buttermilk and blend until thick and creamy. Turn off your machine as soon as it thickens or the dressing may curdle.

Chill at least 1 hour so flavors blend. If it separates you can just give it a quick whiz in the blender again. (Will last 3 - 4 days in airtight container in fridge)

Feta Cheese Dressing

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup buttermilk

1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled

2 Tbsp mayo

1 tsp mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried oregano

pepper

 

Directions

In bowl, whisk all ingredients together. Chill for at least an hour.

(Can be refrigerated up to 5 days in airtight container)

 

 

 

Greek Dressing

 

Ingredients

1/2 cup cottage cheese

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp grated lemon peel

1 tsp dried oregano

pepper

 

Directions

In container of blender or food processor, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth, stopping and scraping sides as necessary. Chill for at least an hour.

 

 

Unfortunately we didn’t get the same results as from the Greek Islands Restaurant. (Boooo!)

These were all delicious in their own right but not quite what we were looking for. It’s all Shannon’s fault...we will now have to travel back to Chilliwack to get at that delicious salad and dressing. I’m thinking this may have been her plan all along to get us to visit more often.

If anyone out there knows the secret to Greek Islands Greek Salad Dressing then

please let us know.

PLEASE.

(We will beg if we have to.)

And, If you think that we may be exaggerating on how delicious this dressing really is then we challenge you to go to the Greek Islands Restaurant and try it out. They have locations in Abbotsford and Chilliwack.

P.S. – The other food was also delicious! I had the calamari and it was amazing. A huge plate of kalamari (their spelling) with rice, roasted potatoes, steamed veggies, pita & tzatziki, and Greek salad(or Caesar salad or soup – but trust me take the Greek salad) was only $11.99. (Crazy, right?)

I apologize for not taking a photograph. I guess I will have to go back and eat there again so I can get a photo for the blog.

It’s a legitimate reason to travel 3 hours there and 3 hours back.

Food is serious business.