Tomato, Red Onion, Watercress, Feta and Olive Salad

5 from 4 votes

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15 minutes gets you to an explosion of summery color and flavor in a bowl.

Bowl of colorful Tomato, Red Onion, Watercress, Feta and Olive Salad.

Watercress Salad with Tomato, Feta, and Olives

There are a few foods I can eat like someone may be about to ship me off on an ice floe. One is sushi. Truly do not put yourself between me and a piece of raw salmon; you could get hurt. Another is popcorn. I make a huge pot of stovetop popcorn several times a week, and I eat about half, and my family gets to share the other half. It’s not the prettiest thing to watch.

Large bowl of Tomato, Red Onion, Watercress, Feta and Olive Salad.

And also there is salad. I can eat a very large quantity of pretty much any kind of salad, as can most of my family, most of the time. Regular readers of this blog will know that there is a deep and abiding level of adoration for Greek Salad amongst my people (by this I mean my family, as opposed to Jews or New Yorkers, say). Jack and I are the leaders of the Greek Salad Fan Club, but Charlie and Gary are both card-carrying members.

Also: if there weren’t such tangible consequences I could also eat French fries until I fell over, but I don’t allow myself to do this. Much. Thank god many of the dishes my family orders in restaurants come with fries, so I can be enabled, but not too often.

Spoons scooping Tomato, Red Onion, Watercress, Feta and Olive Salad from a bowl.

Back to salad. Do you love watercress? I LOVE watercress, which I know is a slightly weird thing to say (or even to know about oneself). But it seems like it’s not all that available, and when you can find it, it’s pricey or just not looking all that fresh and perky. It’s a fragile green with a short shelf life, but it’s so amazingly fresh and kind of grassy tasting in a great way that we all need to persevere and find it and use it.

Kind of like a Greek Salad, only with watercress and a longer name. A perfect summer salad.

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Bowl of colorful Tomato, Red Onion, Watercress, Feta and Olive Salad.

So, this Tomato, Red Onion, Watercress, Feta, and Olive Salad is kind of — kind of — like a Greek Salad, but with watercress instead of either no lettuce (actually very traditional) or romaine (very common here in the U.S.). And it has sherry vinegar in the dressing, whereas red wine vinegar is more traditional, and also fresh basil is added, not oregano, which is also a bit of a departure. So, kind of.

I want you to look at the amount of salad in this bowl. It was intended to serve 8 people. It served 4, and I can tell you that the other three people at the table had fairly normal-sized portions. Hey, better than French fries right? I have a major in English but a minor in justification.

Spoons placing Tomato, Red Onion, Watercress, Feta and Olive Salad next to fish and potatoes.

Other Salad Recipes:

Tomato, Red Onion, Watercress, Feta and Olive Salad on a plate with fish and potatoes.

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5 from 4 votes

Tomato, Red Onion, Watercress, Feta and Olive Salad

15 minutes gets you to an explosion of summery color and flavor in a bowl.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 0 minutes
Total Time: 15 minutes
Servings: 8 People

Ingredients 

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons thinly sliced chiffonaded or chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tablespoon minced parsley
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 red onion (quartered and thinly sliced)
  • 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes (halved)
  • 2 cups roughly chopped watercress
  • 1 cup halved black olives
  • 1 cup diced feta cheese

Instructions 

  • In a large bowl combine the olive oil, vinegar, basil, parsley, salt, and pepper.
  • Add the onion, tomatoes, watercress, olives and toss to combine. Add the feta and gently toss to combine again. Serve at room temperature.

Notes

Do you love watercress? I LOVE watercress, which I know is a slightly weird thing to say (or even to know about oneself). But it seems like it’s not all that available, and when you can find it, it’s pricey or just not looking all that fresh and perky. It’s a fragile green with a short shelf life, but it’s so amazingly fresh and kind of grassy tasting in a great way that we all need to persevere and find it and use it.

Nutrition

Calories: 149.78kcal, Carbohydrates: 7.69g, Protein: 4.36g, Fat: 11.99g, Saturated Fat: 3.9g, Cholesterol: 16.69mg, Sodium: 780.44mg, Potassium: 324.72mg, Fiber: 1.69g, Sugar: 4.41g, Vitamin A: 1063.63IU, Vitamin C: 32.31mg, Calcium: 127.59mg, Iron: 1.13mg
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About Katie Workman

Katie Workman is a cook, a writer, a mother of two, an activist in hunger issues, and an enthusiastic advocate for family meals, which is the inspiration behind her two beloved cookbooks, Dinner Solved! and The Mom 100 Cookbook.

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6 Comments

  1. Do you think bleu cheese would be an okay or good substitute for feta? Thank you! Looking forward to trying this with some grilled steaks later!

  2. I had watercress I wanted to use up. This recipe was excellent, even though I had the “wrong” kind of vinegar and not enough feta. Thank you!

  3. We had this with grilled steaks, cheers all around. Or basic summer dinner template is grilled protein, King Arthur Flour flatbreads and one of your salads. The next day, the salad gets repurposed into pasta salad for lunch and the cycle begins. Thank you for feeding us so well❤️