Halloumi! We all have those things that we love so much and feel like we can never have enough. That’s exactly how I feel about halloumi cheese. It has it all; the crispness on the outside, the softness on the inside and the absolutely perfect combination of salty and sweet.
Actually, we don’t have to go back very many years before it was one of those things that you could really look for for a long time in the supermarkets here at home. Today it is found on most shelves in most supermarkets and especially here in the summer months. It’s probably also about the fact that it often goes by the name grill cheese. In that word is also the fact that it is a cheese that must be grilled (and CAN be grilled). I wouldn’t exactly recommend serving it raw.
Of course, this does not mean that it requires a very large setup with a grill, garden and all that to serve good halloumi. A simple pan and a little oil can also do it.
Halloumi cheese has many possibilities and it can be used in a sea of different dishes I wonder if there aren’t a few more in here too. In today’s recipe, it comes as the main element in a salad. A crisp, fresh and simple one of the kind where I have been inspired by the Middle East.
Ingredients
2 iceberg lettuce
½ cucumber
2 large tomatoes
1 red onion
1 package halloumi cheese – Washed & Grilled
1 bunch of fresh coriander
Dressing
3 tablespoons pomegranate syrup (pomegranate molasses)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon of salt
The juice from half a lemon
Preparation
- Start by cutting the halloumi cheese into slices and fry them in a pan with a good amount of oil. They are ready when they are golden and crispy on both sides.
- While the cheese is cooling, prepare the vegetables: cut or tear the lettuce into smaller pieces, cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces, cut the cucumber into smaller pieces, cut the red onion into thin rings and have the fresh coriander.
- Mix it all in a bowl.
- Make the dressing by mixing all the ingredients and finally pour it over the salad.
- Add the fried Start by cutting Start by cutting the halloumi cheese and fry them in a pan with a good amount of oil. They are ready when they are golden and crispy on both sides.
- While the cheese is cooling, prepare the vegetables: cut or tear the lettuce into smaller pieces, cut the tomatoes into smaller pieces, cut the cucumber into smaller pieces, cut the red onion into thin rings and have the fresh coriander.
- Add the fried halloumi cheese.
The magic of the Middle East
My love for Middle Eastern cuisine has been around for a long time and it continues to flourish. Flatbread, falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, lots of exciting spices and of course halloumi. Need I say more?
My food heart often goes on a bit of a trip and In some periods it beats mostly for Asian, other times for Mexican, etc. Right now it is found in the Middle East.
Don’t forget the dressing
If you ignore the halloumi cheese itself, the most important element in a good halloumi salad is of course the dressing.
I have made it with pomegranate syrup, which in the Middle East goes by the name pomegranate molasses. I dare not promise that it is available on the shelves in Netto (yet, mind you), but I can assure you that it is available at every Arab greengrocer. It is one of the things that they use in countless dishes.
It all makes sense when you taste it. It is exactly the element that makes it taste real. In other words, that taste that you often experience when you eat out, but which can be so difficult to produce at home.