Fenway Park Greek Salad

With Ron Abbel

One of Fenway Park's executive chefs, Nookie Postal, shares this exclusive recipe for Greek salad. The salad is a favorite of many celebrity restaurant guests like Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi, Dennis Leary and Donald Trump. This signature dish is based on the seasonal availability of many of the ingredients, such as the snap peas and fresh cucumbers. Ward's Berry Farm in Sharon grows exclusively for Fenway; the park gets most of its fresh produce all summer long from the farm. This Greek salad is one example of how its chefs take advantage of the fresh produce.

This salad is simple to make, but the flavors are anything but.

Ingredients

For salad:
1/2 cup sugar snap peas
3 radishes, sliced thin
6 to 8 sweet 100 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled (goats milk if possible)
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata Olives, chopped
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 sprig fresh parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon fresh mint, chopped
1 piece Lebanese pita bred, lightly seasoned with olive oil, salt and pepper and toasted

For vinaigrette:
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Mix together garlic, vinegar and lemon juice for vinaigrette and set aside.
2. Clean peas by removing the spine, bring small pot of water to a boil, salt the water heavily and blanche peas for one minute and "shock" them immediately into a bowl of ice water.
3. Add oregano and olive oil to vinegar bowl.
4. In a mixing bowl, add peas, radishes, tomatoes, feta cheese, olives, onion, parsley and mint. Break apart pita bread into bite size pieces and add to salad.
5. Spoon a few spoonfuls of dressing over the salad mixture and toss.

Recipe courtesy of Executive Chef Nookie, Fenway Park, 2010.