Greek salad without lettuce.
We like our salads without lettuce, except Caesar. A little chicken on the side.
Cost per person, $13. Literally as much as the steak from the other day. This is why society is doomed.
My grocer calls this (plus kalamata olives) “Authentic Greek Salad.” $6.50 for 8 oz. They also sell “Greek Salad” which is the same exact thing but on top of a head of sliced Romaine lettuce, $14.00 for a big bowlful. Or I can buy the head of Romaine f $3.50 and rinse and slice it myself. Maybe add a little more vinaigrette from my fridge. My doc wants me to eat green leafies. Moo.
In greece lettuceless Greek salads are more common.
Cherry tomato Greek salads though … super rare.
These are definitely not cherry tomatoes, but close enough.
One thing about living in a third world agricultural society is that seasonal fruits and veg are cheapish and fresh.
Meanwhile processed foods are expensive.
So easy to have a healthyish diet.
Even when I was in Qatar the produce costs just annoyed me.
Also buying produce at a supermarket or indoors feels weird
In another month everything here will be in season in this area. And the price will be exactly the same. It’s weird living in an industrial society where stuff flown in from 5,000 kilometers away is the same cost as stuff grown 5 miles away. Year round.
Go to the farmers markets, big box stores don’t fluctuate pricing like that.
Lol. Not here. I live in the country. Farmers markets charge full retail because it’s all fresh and local branding. They either have it fresh and local or they don’t have it to sell.
However, if I want to buy in bulk things change. When it comes time to can up tomato soup I’ll be able to get 40 pounds of tomatoes for a fifty cents or less a pound.
I hate whenever local produce is advertised as “LOCAL PRODUCE MADE BY YOUR FELLOW COUNTRIMEN, IT IS YOUR CIVIC DUTY TO PREFER IT”. And you end up paying twice as much for the thing compared to one that tastes the same but is grown 100km away.
But, yet, the guy set up next to the railroad crossing 138 miles from the coast† has fresh shrimp available for almost nothing…
† not a coast known for its seafood
13$ per person for a salad? I can make this exact salad with ingredients from my local supermarket for maybe 3€ per portion.
Add it up. Feta: $5.64 Red onion: 80¢ Red bell pepper: $1.68 Green bell pepper: 68¢ Chicken thighs: $5.60 Cucumbers: $2.11 Tiny tomatoes: $1.98 Olive oil: 30¢ Lemons: 28¢ Oregano: 5¢ Red wine vinegar: 10¢ Garlic, pepper, homemade Greek seasoning mix for the chicken, more olive oil for the baked Chicken, etc.
Go ahead. Go figure out the cost for every single item and divide it by the two people I’m cooking for. Show your work. Make sure to use Lancaster South Carolina prices instead of whatever European country you are buying in. I’ll wait.
Honestly, prices in the United States for some items seem very high, at least to me. I have full confidence in your calculations. Here’s the equivalent cost from Germany:
Feta: 1.89 Red Onion: 0.5 Red bell pepper: 0.7 Green bell pepper 0.7 Chicken thigh: 2.8 Cucumber: 0.79 Tiny tomatoes: 0.99 Olive oil: 0.3 Lemons: 0.69 Oregano: 0.1 Red wine vinegar: 0.1 (all values in Euro)
While Americans tend to earn higher wages, this really illustrates why ppp calculations matter.
Are those meant to be dollar values? I buy these same items nearly weekly as needed. Your first five ingredients listed are double that here where I am in the states. Even the cherry tomatoes are $3-$4 for the small tub. I shop at my local grocer for reference. It’s regional. I did buy a giant cucumber from Aldi today for $2 tho so theres that. Idk why it was so fucking big, giant produce freaks me out. Onions are massive too, annoying when you’re buying by weight. But we get giant cucumbers covered in wax, and giant fucking onions the size of a baby’s head.
But yeah, if this is the US dollar comparison its easily double where I live.
All values I gave were in Euros, but the exchange rate currently sits at around 1 Euro to 1.12 USD. Therefore the Dollar amount should be slightly higher than what I gave in Euros, but my Euro values already include VAT (more or less our Sales Tax).
For reference I used the “normal” German supermarket rather than the cheaper Aldi. I just checked again on the supermarket website and cherry tomatoes are at 0.99 € and a cucumber is at 0.79 € with Feta cheese at 1.89 €.
I’ve always preferred Greek salad without the lettuce. It just gets soggy too quickly. A lettuce-less Greek salad also keeps decently well for a day or two.
