Village Greek Salad with a Feta Slab

Drain the tomatoes. Toss the tomato pieces with ¼ tsp of the salt and tip them into the colander set over the bowl, then leave for 20-30 minutes. The salt pulls out the watery juice by osmosis, so the finished salad stays crisp instead of turning into a puddle. Discard the juice once it has collected.

Soak the onion. While the tomatoes drain, put the sliced onion into a small bowl with the cider vinegar and leave for 15 minutes. The acid softens the sharp, sulphurous bite of raw onion so it adds crunch without overpowering everything else. Lift the onion out once it's ready and set it aside.

Whisk the dressing. Stir the remaining a pinch of salt, the oregano and the pepper into the vinegar left behind from the onion, then whisk in 3 tbsp of the olive oil. Whisking briskly brings the oil and vinegar together into a dressing that clings to the vegetables rather than pooling at the bottom. It should look cloudy and well combined.

Toss the salad. In the now-empty large bowl, gently toss the drained tomatoes, soaked onion, cucumber, green pepper, olives and capers with the dressing. Go easy with the extra salt here, since the olives and the feta to come are already salty. A light hand keeps the vegetables intact rather than bruised.

Top with feta and serve. Pile the dressed vegetables onto the platter, lay the feta slabs on top, and sprinkle them with a pinch of oregano before drizzling over the last 1 tbsp of oil. Serving the feta whole rather than crumbled lets it stay creamy in the middle while the oil pools attractively around it. Bring it to the table and serve straight away.