An Italian Sandwich from the Italian Delicatessen/Sandwich shop, Amatos in Portland, Maine (in the USA) commands my unwavening respect and love! I grew up eating them during the summers and they were the best treat there was.
This salad is a homage to the Italian sandwich.
The better quality your individual ingredients are, the more wonderful and out of this world good this salad will be. So choose the most flavourful, ripe juicy tomatoes you can find, splurge on extra high quality extra vrigin olive oil and olives and fresh, organic produce. Your future self will thank you!
This makes 1 large or 2 small servings.
Italian Salad
Ingredients
5-6 medium organic, ripe tomatoes
1/2 organic green pepper, stem and seeds removed
several slices of organic brown onion, chopped finely
handful of black olives, in brine or cured in salt (no vinegar or citric acid added) (Peruvian Black Botija Olives are great for this salad)
1 homemade dill pickle (see blog dated 11 April 2022) or 1 cucumber quick pickled in lime juice/lemon juice, salt, finely chopped fresh garlic and dill
2 slices of cashew nut ‘feta cheese’ (see blog dated 5 January 2026)
2 slices of homemade gluten free bread (see post date 3 february 2026)
1-2 tbs fresh (preferably first pressed) extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Method
Take out a small bowl. Scrub and trim a cucumber. If you can, use a kirby, gherkin, English cucumber or one with as few seeds and juice as possible. Slice, julienne and place it in a bowl. Add about 2+ tbs of lime or lemon juice along with about 1/2 tsp salt. Smash, peel and finely chop one clove of garlic and a handful of fresh dill (or 1/2 dry dill tops) and add them to the cucumber. Mix well and set aside to pickle.
Chop the tomatoes and place in a medium salad bowl. Peel the onion. Finely chop several slices of onion and add to the tomatoes. Wash the green pepper, cut in half and remove the stem and seeds. Slice one half of the pepper in to thin strips and chop them into about 1 inch lengths. Add to the salad.
If using olives with pits in brine, remove the pits; chop the olives in to small pieces and add to the salad. Take 2 slices of ‘feta cheese.’ cut horizontally twice and vertically making small squares of ‘cheese.’ Add these to the salad.
Toast 2 (or more) slices of bread. Add olive oil, salt and pepper to the salad. Add the quick pickles leaving the brine behind. (It can be used again to pickle a cucumber, radish or carrot!) Mix well.
Serve right away and enjoy scooping up this delicious salad, all the juices and oil with your bread!