Simple Feta Cheese Salad with a Marie Rose Dressing

This delightfully tangy simple feta cheese salad, drizzled with a Marie Rose dressing, is perfect for warmer months.

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I don’t know about you, but when the weather starts to heat up, my appetite cools down. Or, more accurately, my desire for heavy comfort food wanes. There’s simply nothing more refreshing than a light salad with a minimal amount of ingredients.

My salad has nothing more complicated than a good helping of crisp iceberg, some sliced plum tomatoes, and a touch a cucumber. Wonderfully tangy feta is then crumbled on top. The pièce de résistance is the dressing, which is my take on the classic Marie rose sauce.

Retro classic: Prawn Cocktail

For those of you from the UK, Marie Rose sauce needs no introduction. Especially if you were hosting dinner parties in the 1970s. Anyone a little younger may not be so familiar. The simple sauce, made primarily from ketchup and mayonnaise, was slathered over prawns to produce a starter (appetizer) called prawn cocktail. It was the height of fashion in the 1970s, but became a little passé as were moved into this century.

Although a good old prawn cocktail is heavily entrenched in British culture, it appears that it wasn’t British from the beginning. The dish’s origin seems to have been the USA, when oysters were once served in place of the prawns.

I was pleased to find that prawn cocktail has had a resurgence in popularity, and a couple of years ago, I started dishing it up before any special meal for my kids. They loved it. Who can blame them? There’s nothing quite like big, juicy prawns slathered in a rich sauce.

The wonderful thing about prawn cocktail is that it is so simple to make. There’s nothing more than prawns in sauce, laid on a bed of lettuce.

Making this feta cheese salad using Marie Rose sauce was completely unplanned. Looking for something to add to my rather plain lettuce, tomatoes and cucumber, I crumbled some feta, but still wasn’t satisfied. I often make a quick jalapeño and mayo dressing or a caramelized onion mayonnaise (when I have more time). But for some reason, a Marie Rose sauce popped into my head. And I am glad it did.

How to make Marie Rose dressing

The two main ingredients are ketchup and mayonnaise. Other classic additions are a touch of Worcestershire sauce and lemon juice. However, the recipe has progressed a little, and others add hot sauce, cayenne pepper and garlic. There are no right or wrongs, here. Mine has picked jalapeño, and it was divine. You don’t even need to measure your ingredients: just add a splash of whatever (and how much) you fancy. 

The recipe was made for one person (lucky old me), but use (and change the ingredients as much as you like. If you are looking for recipes not too laden with sugar or calories, check out my lighter recipes. 

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Tangy Feta Cheese Salad with Rose Marie Dressing.

This incredibly simple feta cheese salad is finished off a Marie Rose inspired dressing. Eat as an appetizer, lunch, or light summer dinner.

Course Appetizer, lunch, main meal, starter

Cuisine British

Keyword dressing, iceberg lettuce, jalapeno, ketchup, lettuce,, marie rose sauce, mayonnaise, salad, summer

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 0 minutes minutes

0 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 1 person

Ingredients

Salad (see note 1):

• iceberg lettuce (see note 2)
• 4 baby/plum tomatoes (sliced)
• cucumber (sliced)
• 100g (3½ oz) feta cheese

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• pickled jalapeño slices (see note 3)
• 1 tablespoon jalapeño juice (from the jar)
• paprika powder (optional)

Instructions

• Cut up your vegetables in any way you like. Place in a bowl or on a plate.
• Mix the mayo, ketchup, and pickled jalapeño juice together.
• Chop up the jalapeños and add in.
• Sprinkle over as much or little feta cheese as you like.
• Drizzle over the dressing. Add a little sprinkling of paprika, if you like. Enjoy!

Notes

I have converted grams to cups/ounces/tablespoons using online converters. Although I have no reason to believe they are inaccurate, please be aware that I have not made this recipe with imperial measurements.

 

1. I used enough salad ingredients to make a large salad for one person. You can use as little or as much as you like (and vary the ingredients you use).
2. I shredded my lettuce, but more traditional recipes use the whole leaves.
3. Use as much or little as you like. I used approximately 6 small slices. 

 

I’m in the Amazon Associates program, and some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means I may earn a small commission if you click and buy. Please read my disclosure and privacy policy for more information.