There is something so comforting in a Winter Grilled Halloumi Salad – a test a freshness, melting pleasure and salty sweetness.
Halloumi is a firm cheese that originated in Cyprus. It’s made with some combination of goat, sheep, and cow’s milk and is popular throughout the Mediterranean.
Halloumi has a high melting point that allows it to be cooked directly on the hot grill plates without melting into total oblivion.
Cooking it feels a little bit like magic!
Halloumi’s flavor is mild and buttery. It is a little bit like a cross between a tamer, less salty feta and mozzarella. Halloumi tastes creamy and absolutely delicious!
While you can eat Halloumi raw, it’s best enjoyed cooked—grilling and pan frying are popular, easy ways to prepare it.
Cooking Halloumi improves both its taste and texture. It becomes creamier and some of the saltiness from brining mellows to a pleasant amount of saltiness.
I love serving it in a salad. Next to mixed green leaves, pleasantly seasoned in mango dressing vinaigrette, grilled cherry tomatoes and a sprinkling of sunflower and pumpkin seeds, the halloumi comes to live!
Ingredients
Serves 2 people
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 225g traditional halloumi
- 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 handful of mixed green salad
- 2 tsp Mango-Ginger Vinaigrette
- 2 tsp mixed sunflower and pumpkin seeds
- Salt
- Black pepper
Method
1. Heat a teaspoon of olive oil in a grill pan.
2. Slice the halloumi in 10 slices. Place on the hot grill for 2-6 minutes and turn once until grill marks appear on both sides.
3. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and grill in the hot pan, face down for a couple of minutes.
4. Plate, by serving mixed salad leaves seasoned with mango-ginger vinaigrette, topped with the grilled halloumi, cherry tomatoes and seeds.
