The inspiration for this dish comes from a gorgeous salad, very popular in the greek island of Crete. They call this salad «Dakos» and they make it with chopped, sweet, greek tomatoes, capers and onions. They dress it with extra virgin olive oil (for which Crete is very famous) and vinegar, and they serve it on top of a «kritharokouloura» which is rye crisp bread. This is a lighter version of this salad. I baked croutons from a day old wholemeal baguette and used cherry tomatoes. The addition of pomegranate seeds adds a delicious, crunchy, sweetness

Ingredients for the salad

• 1 kg cherry tomatoes, split in half
• 1 red onion. Chopped
• 1 spring onion, chopped
• ¼ cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• about 20 kalamata olives
• 3 Tbs capers
• ½ cup pomegranate seeds
• 100gr feta cheese, crumbled

Dressing

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 lemon, juice and zest
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

For the croutons

• One wholemeal baguette, 1-2 days old, cut by hand, in large crouton size pieces
• ½ cup olive oil
• a little bit of dried oregano
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

First make the croutons. Preheat oven to 180 C fan (355 F). Put bread pieces in a baking tray. Mix the olive oil with the garlic and drizzle on the bread. Mix with your hands to distribute the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and the dried oregano. Bake for 20 minutes, stiring every 5 minutes until croutons are golden and crunchy. Leave them to cool completely. You can store them in a ziplock bag for up to five days.

Make the dressing. Put all the ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake.

Leaving the feta aside, put all the ingredients for the salad in a large bowl. Mix in the dressing and toss well to combine. Sprinkle the feta cheese on top and some fresh oregano leaves if you like. Add as many croutons as you like mix and serve immediately.