Dakos

Fancy a light vegetarian lunch? There is a perfect option for you: Cretan Dakos (Ntakos- ντάκος)- simple but still flavorful salad which will bring a Mediterranean savor to your life. No cooking and only few ingredients involved, so this light meal can be easily prepared even if you're in a lazy mood.

Dry rusk, tomatoes, herbs, good olive oil and feta cheese is all you need for a basic version of this appetizer. They need to be of a good quality, though. Ripe and red juicy tomatoes and fresh herbs will guarantee you the proper taste and aroma. In the original recipe its base- a bread- should be a real chickpea flour rusk. Don't worry if you cannot find one- nowadays, it is often replaced with a barley rusk (or even an old French bread, cut into the pieces), which will definitely do. If you want to make it a bit more lavish- add some capers, grilled or fresh capsicum, olives or olive paste and... enjoy, preferably with a glass of delicious wine.

 Tip: wait 10-15 minutes before you serve Dakos- a rusk will soften, still keeping its crispiness

 Ingredients (basic)

4 large round barley rusks
3 large mature tomatoes (pilled and mashed)
8 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
150 g feta cheese (5.5 ounces)
1 tbsp fresh oregano
salt and freshly ground pepper

 additional: 50g mizithra cheese, 10-15 black olives, 2tbsps capers, 2tbsps olive paste

 prep time: 10 mins

total time: 20-25 mins

 Moisten the rusks with 4 tbsps of water each, and drizzle with the olive oil.

Use a grater to grate the tomatoes, into a colander and leave for 5 minutes to drain.
Crumble the feta cheese with a fork, or grate it with a grater.
Chop the oregano leaves
To put the dish together, spread the grated tomato on the rusks and add the crumbled cheese. Top with the olive oil, oregano and, optionally, capers, crumbled or grated mizithra cheese, cubed grilled capsicum.

 Enjoy!