Green Greek Salad
Fun-Da-Mentals Kitchen Skills
- chop :
to cut something into small, rough pieces using a blade.
- knife skills :
Bear Claw (growl), Pinch, Plank, and Bridge (look out for trolls).
- slice :
to cut into thin pieces using a sawing motion with your knife.
- squeeze :
to firmly press or twist a food with fingers, hands, or a device to remove its liquid, like shredded potatoes, frozen and thawed spinach, or tofu.
- toss :
to lightly lift and drop food items together or coat food items with flour, or a sauce or dressing, as in a salad.
Equipment Checklist
- Small mixing bowl
- Cutting board + kid-safe knife
- Citrus juicer (optional)
- Measuring spoons
Ingredients
Green Greek Salad
- 1 lemon
- 1 T olive oil
- 1 T honey
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp of dried oregano
- 2 chopped cucumbers
- 3 green onions
- 1 C cherry tomatoes
- 1 handful pitted Kalamata olives
- 1/4 C crumbled feta cheese **(Omit for DAIRY ALLERGY)**
Food Allergen Substitutions
Green Greek Salad
- Dairy: Omit feta cheese.
Instructions
Green Greek Salad
squeeze + measure + whisk
Slice 1 lemon and squeeze its juice into a small mixing bowl. Measure and add 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 tablespoon honey, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano to the bowl. Whisk to combine!
chop + toss + serve
Chop 2 cucumbers and slice or snip 3 green onions. Slice 1 cup cherry tomatoes and 1 handful Kalamata olives in half. Add veggies to the bowl. Let kids choose what they want to add! Toss to coat veggies in dressing. Serve salad topped with 1/4 cup of crumbled feta cheese!
Hi! I'm Olive!
"Did you know olives are fruit? We're called drupes (sounds like droops) or stone fruit, because we have a pit inside, just like apricots, cherries, peaches, and plums. You can't eat us right off the olive tree, though. We have to be cured first so we're soft and not bitter. Try us by ourselves or in a salad, a taco, or on pizza!"
- Olives are one of the most essential foods to the people of Greece, and they always have been. In ancient Grecian times, wheat, olive oil, and wine were the three most widely consumed foods, forming the basis of Greek people's diets.
- Greeks believed that the goddess Athena gave the first olive tree to Athens before it eventually spread to the rest of Greece. Olives were used in many recipes. Olives were also crushed, and their oil was used for lamps. Olive oil was also used as a beauty product. Women rubbed olive oil into their skin to make it soft and shiny, and it was added to charcoal and other natural colors to make eyeshadow and eyeliner.
- Olives grow on trees! An olive tree can live anywhere from 300 to 600 years.
- The oldest olive tree is located in Crete. It is 2,000 to 4,000 years old and is still producing olives!
- The olive tree branch has become a symbol of peace, and two olive branches are pictured on the United Nations flag.
- Olives are not edible straight from the tree. They're too bitter. They must be cured first, which is how we buy them from stores. Cured means treated with a substance to preserve and change the taste and texture. Curing can cause green olives to become black from oxidation.
- What color are olives? They can be many colors: black, green, purple, brown, and even pink!
- There are many different varieties and sizes of olives. The largest olive is called the Donkey Olive. The smallest olive is called the Bullet Olive.
- About 90 percent of olives are pressed to make olive oil, and 10 percent become table olives.
- Olives have lots of healthy fat in them, and these fats are fantastic for your heart and brain! They also contain 25 percent of our daily value of vitamin E.
Let's Learn About Greece!
Ancient Greece
- Ancient Greece was a civilization in the northeastern Mediterranean region that existed from about 1100 BCE to 600 CE. Democracy began there in Athens in the 5th century BCE.
- The first Olympics were dedicated to the Olympian gods and were staged on the plains of Olympia. Ancient Olympic sports included running, chariot racing, mule-cart racing, boxing, discus throw, long jump, wrestling, and pankration, a wild cross between wrestling and boxing with no rules except biting and eye-gouging!
- A few of the well-known figures from this period were: Alexander the Great, who ruled over the whole empire from 336 to 323 BCE; Hippocrates, a physician referred to as the Father of Medicine; Herodotus, called the Father of History, who wrote his "Histories" about the Greco-Persian wars; Socrates, considered the founder of Western Philosophy; Plato, an author and philosopher who founded the first academy of higher learning in the West; Aristotle, a student of Plato's who also founded a school of philosophy; and Thales, a mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and one of the Seven Sages of Greece.
Modern Greece
- Greece, in Southeast Europe, is officially called the Hellenic Republic. Its government is a unitary parliamentary republic with a president, prime minister, and parliament. The capital and largest city is Athens, and the official language is Greek.
- Greece declared its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821 and was recognized as an independent country in 1830.
- The size of Greece is about the same as the US state of Alabama but has twice as many people, over 10.5 million.
- The country of Greece consists of 6,000 islands, but only 227 are inhabited. Nearly 80 percent of the country is hills and mountains.
- About four-fifths of the people live in urban areas in Greece, and almost everyone is literate.
- Greece has three times the number of annual tourists (about 31 million) as residents. It is one of the most-visited countries.
- Greece is the third-largest producer of peaches and the fifth-largest producer of olives in the world.
- In the past, most Greeks were farmers, and they ate the food that they grew. Since Greece had a mild climate, they could grow many different fruits and vegetables as long as they got enough rain. Vegetables were a considerable part of the Greek diet and still are. Most Greeks eat a Mediterranean diet that includes plenty of olive oil, legumes, fruits, veggies, grains, and fish. They generally consume less dairy and meat.
- Greek cuisine includes "fasolada" (soup of white beans, olive oil, and veggies), "moussaka" (eggplant or potato dish with ground or minced meat), "souvlaki" (grilled meat on a skewer), and "gyros" (pita bread filled with meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie, veggies, and tzatziki sauce).
What's It Like to Be a Kid in Greece?
- Greek kids have three stages of education: primary school for six years, gymnasium (junior high) for three years, and lyceum (senior high) for three years (this stage is not mandatory).
- Kids may participate in sports such as soccer, basketball, baseball, swimming, and handball.
- There are many museums and ancient sites to explore in Greece. Families love being outdoors and enjoy hiking and going to the many beaches.
- There are several different sweets that Greek children enjoy. These include "pasteli" (sesame seed candy), "bougatsa" and "galaktoboureko" (phyllo pastries filled with semolina custard), and "baklava" (nut-filled phyllo pastry soaked in a honey syrup).
Lettuce Joke Around
Two olives are sitting on a table.
Olive 1 rolls to the end of the table and falls off.
Olive 2 yells from the top of the table, "Are you okay?"
Olive 1 replies, "I’m a little bit sore, but olive (I'll live)."
That's Berry Funny
Did you know there's another name for Kalamata olives?
Greece’s Pieces!
That's Berry Funny
Which Greek leader was the best of the bunch?
Alexander the Grape!
That's Berry Funny
Why isn't suntanning an Olympic sport?
Because the best you can get is bronze!
Lettuce Joke Around
What was the most popular film in Ancient Greece?
Troy Story!
Lettuce Joke Around
A lot of people don't know about Rudolph the Reindeer's wife.
However, she's mentioned in the song about him: "Olive the other reindeer."
