Start by grabbing a large mixing bowl and adding your diced cucumber first. I like to pat the cucumbers dry with a paper towel before dicing—this keeps everything from getting watery later. Then dice your ripe tomatoes into roughly the same size pieces so everything looks intentional and not chaotic. Honestly, uniform sizes just photograph better too.

Thinly slice that red onion and add it to your bowl with the cucumber and tomatoes. Don't stress if you end up with slightly thicker slices on a couple pieces—it happens to everyone. The red onion adds a sharp bite that balances all the other flavors, so don't skip it even if you think you don't like raw onion.

Pit your Kalamata olives if they still have pits (mine usually do), and toss them in the bowl. Add your chickpeas next—they should be rinsed and drained so they don't add extra liquid to your Greek salad recipe. These two ingredients are what take this from "just a salad" to "actually satisfying and protein-packed."

Sprinkle in your fresh parsley and crumbled feta cheese directly over the vegetables. I always chop the parsley fresh right before adding it—the flavor is so much brighter when you're not using it from a jar that's been sitting around. The feta breaks apart even more as you toss everything, so don't worry about getting perfect crumbles.

In a small bowl, whisk together your extra-virgin olive oil, freshly squeezed lemon juice, minced garlic, dried oregano, and black pepper. This is your dressing, and it's super simple but absolutely delicious. Taste it before pouring it over—sometimes I add a tiny pinch more oregano because I love that Mediterranean herb flavor.

Pour that dressing over everything in your large bowl and toss gently but thoroughly. You want every piece of cucumber, tomato, and chickpea getting coated in that garlicky, lemony goodness. Don't go crazy and bruise the vegetables—just a good 30 seconds of tossing does the job perfectly.

Let your Greek salad recipe sit for about 5 minutes before serving so the flavors can get friendly together. If you're meal prepping, you can actually make this up to 3 days ahead and store it in an airtight container. The olives and chickpeas actually keep everything from getting too soft, which is my favorite part about this version.