Chimichurri, blended with feta cheese, lime juice, and olive oil into a creamy dressing, tossed over garden-fresh tomatoes and your favorite greens, makes a fun and zippy salad to go with grilled chicken or meat. It’s also great all on it’s own for a light vegetarian meal. We love to toss in romaine lettuce, green cabbage, cilantro leaves, and avocado to make it extra green!
Chimichurri, Feta n’ Greens
Chimichurri is a deliciously fresh and zesty sauce of Latin American origins made from fresh herbs, chilies, garlic, olive oil, and vinegar. We also include cilantro and lime juice for an extra tangy finish. Really, I can’t think of a thing that isn’t better with a splash of chimichurri! It is often served with grilled steak, but it’s fabulous on chicken, fish, or veggies and makes a delightful dipping sauce for bread. Plus it’s super easy to make! One of our favorite ways to use it is blended with feta and tossed with chopped romaine, shredded green cabbage, fresh cilantro leaves, yellow cherry tomatoes, and avocado for a tasty slaw. It’s fun to garnish the salad with an avocado rose, and if you’ve never made one before, they are fun to do. I’ve included a link in the recipe directions for a tutorial video!By the way, if you’ve ever wondered … the word “slaw” is simply short for “coleslaw”, which is a salad consisting of shredded cabbage often with other shredded veggies. The word coleslaw is derived from the Dutch words koolsla, with kool meaning cabbage and sla, meaning salad. So it truly is a cabbage salad!This recipe is divided into three parts — Chimichurri, Chimichurri Feta Dressing, and Chimichurri Feta n' Greens salad. You can make the chimichurri and the dressing a day or two ahead and refrigerate until you’re ready to make the salad.
Ingredients
Chimichurri
- 2 jalapeños or Fresno chilies stems, veins, and seeds removed and coarsely chopped
- 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves or about 1.5 cups loosely packed
- 1/2 bunch Italian parsley leaves or about 1.5 cups loosely packed
- 2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves or 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Chimichurri Feta Dressing – makes 1 cup
- 1/2 cup chimichurri
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
Salad Fixings
- 1/2 head romaine lettuce chopped
- 1/2 head green cabbage finely chopped or shredded
- 1 cup cilantro leaves loosely packed
- 10 yellow cherry tomatoes quartered
Garnishes:
- 1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles
- Extra cilantro leaves
- Avocado slices or avocado rose see link below for instructions on how to make these
Instructions
- Put peppers, garlic, cilantro, parsley, and oregano in the food processor and pulse until it reaches the texture you like. Some like it quite chunky and others like it puréed smooth. Either way, once it’s chopped, transfer the veggies and herbs to a bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Use right away or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Chimichurri Feta Dressing
- Place all ingredients in the bowl of your food processer (the same one you used to make the chimichurri), blend until smooth.
Salad
- Toss all salad fixings with Chimichurri Feta Dressing. Garnish with feta cheese crumbles, extra cilantro leaves, and avocado slices or an avocado rose. Visit this link or this link to learn how to make an avocado rose.
I’m so into this idea! Just bookmarked this into my must-make folder. I’ve never made my own chimichurri before, but clearly I need to. Love the salty feta addition!
Yes, you have to make Chimichurri, Lee! You’ll never look back. It’s such a great condiment and so good on empanadas, tacos, etc. Feta … is a great addition to just about anything! We just started making homemade Ranch dressing using feta, yogurt, buttermilk and all of the Ranch dressing spices, too, like dill, onion and garlic powder, fresh parsley, etc.