I am so proud of myself, because this month I have managed to be organised and put together my recipe for the Cheese, Please! challenge before it gets too late.
Hurrah.
The theme this month is herbs and cheese, and I’ve gone for a classic – halloumi and mint.
Although I have also thrown some pomegranate in there too. Because I am throwing pomegranate onto everything at the moment. You may have noticed.
My fondness for pomegranate stems not just from it’s pretty colour, but also because the first time we managed to persuade my Grandpa to try pomegranate he compared it to eating gravel. Needless to say we never managed to get him to eat it again. But every time I eat pomegranate I think of Grandpa, wherever he may be now.
This salad is great for eating straight away or for preparing the night before in order to take it to work. The halloumi works both warm and cold. And with the zesty dressing and fruity pomegranate it’s a really juicy salad. Almost a salad and a drink in one. A sla-drink, if you please.
It is best to mix the dressing together in advance, so that the flavours can get to know one another. A couple of hours is fine, or it can be left overnight.
Pick the seeds out of the pomegranate (trying not to spray yourself with the juice), fry the halloumi to give it some colour and make it a bit crispy and all you need to do now is assemble. Well, and a little bit of chopping. But not much, I promise.
Ladies and Gentlebeans, lunch is served.
Halloumi & Pomegranate Salad with Lime & Mint Dressing
Salad Ingredients:
- A couple of handfuls of mixed leaves, your choice (I used baby spinach, rocket and other baby lettuce leaves)
- 5 – 6 sugar snap peas, cut lengthways into strips
- 1 small salad onion, finely sliced
- 5 slices of cucumber, diced
- 4 slices of halloumi
- 1 tsp oil
- Sprinkling of chilli flakes, optional
- Scattering of pomegranate seeds
Dressing Ingredients:
- 1/3 tsp stevia sweetener, or sugar
- Juice of half a lime
- Salt & pepper
- 1 tsp – 1 1/2 tsps extra virgin olive oil
- 6 – 8 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
Method:
- Start with the dressing – put all the ingredients in small bowl and mix together. Taste and adjust accordingly. Cover and leave for at least a couple of hours.
- Heat the tsp oil in a small frying pan and add the halloumi. Fry for a couple of minutes on both sides, until browned and crispy. Sprinkle with the chilli flakes, if using, then remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
- While the halloumi is cooling, put the leaves, sugar snap peas, salad onion and cucumber in a serving dish and mix together. Pour the dressing over the top and toss to distribute.
- Cut the cooled halloumi into small pieces and scatter over the top of the salad, followed by the pomegranate.
Notes: if preparing in advance, keep the halloumi and dressing in separate containers and assemble everything when you are ready to eat. Otherwise you will have soggy leaves and cheese.
© The Pink Rose Bakery 2014
The Pink Rose Bakery 
This sounds delicious – I’m a huge fan of halloumi, so I’m always excited to find new recipes that use it! What a beautiful salad! 🙂
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Thank you 🙂
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Gorgeous – I’ve been having a bit of a pomegranate phase too lately but haven’t tried it with cheese. Thanks for sharing it with Cheese, Please! 🙂
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It’s lovely with cheese. I have seen it with Philadelphia (hurl) but I think it would also go with something fairly mild like Lancashire.
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A lovely combination, nice for summer! 🙂
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Thanks 🙂
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What my brother used to call ‘squeaky cheese’… but so delicious fried. I do like the sound of this.
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Yep, I always think of it as squeaky cheese too 🙂
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