Tuesday 27 August 2019

Halloumi Salad With Caper Dressing

Regular readers will know I love quaint cooking books; community and school cookbooks, or just vintage and weird:-)  I bought a cute little book from a High School up the coast a while back, full of homely, family recipes.  There are some fab family dishes here from desserts to pies to bakes.  The book is divided into five sections: bakery/entrées and dips/soups and salads/mains, and desserts.  I like the way they start with Bakery, which has lots of delicious sounding cakes and tarts.  These clever folk have their priorities right:-)  

This book even has a few surprises like a rabbit dish, paella, goulash, and maple syrup glazed lamb shanks.  The photos are attractive, and the book is well set out with 2 recipes to a page.  Mr P. and I love going to Maleny, a hinterland town that has a lot of greenie/hippie type inhabitants.  This lovely little cookbook reflects the diversity of the town.  My fave story of staying in Maleny for the weekend is being bailed up and bitten by a couple of mad donkeys.  Yes I do mean the ones with long ears and big teeth:-)  One of them had a big nibble of my arm!  I hope I was tasty...      



grill your veg. and halloumi

This recipe is provided by Claire Michell, one of the Maleny High students.  Simple but delicious.  


Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side:


ingredients:


caper dressing


2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tbs white vinegar

1 tbs capers 

1 tsp crushed garlic

1 tsp mustard - grain or Dijon

pinch of dried oregano

sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste - maybe 1/8 tsp of each?


Halloumi salad


250g. (8 oz) halloumi cheese

3 zucchini

1 large potato, sliced thickly, parboiled or microwaved

400g. (14 oz) tin or jar of artichoke hearts, drained

1 red capsicum, cut into 4-6 pieces (optional)

1 lemon

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil


Method:


Place the dressing ingredients into a glass jar with a lid

Shake very well, and let it commingle for at least 30 minutes

Slice the halloumi into 8 pieces

Halve the zucchini lengthways, then cut each half into 3 chunks

Quarter the lemon, and put into a large bowl with the halloumi, zucchini, potato, artichokes, capsicum and olive oil

Toss everything gently to coat in the oil

Put everything on a hot grill plate, and let it become beautifully browned and tender

Pile onto a serving dish, and pour the dressing (after a quick shake) over all the delicious veg. and cheese


Notes:

You could use different vegetables with this:  try eggplant. mushrooms, broccolini or asparagus

Mr P. microwaved the potato for three minutes before grilling

Try other herbs in the dressing, like thyme or parsley

Mr P. suggests tzatziki would go well with this, in place of the vinaigrette



dressing ready for a good shaking:-)


shake shake shake ... la la la ...


veg. and halloumi chopped up and ready for the olive oil  


Mr P. microwaved then grilled the potato slices 


toss everything in the olive oil (yeah ok, so I like a glove)


throw the veg on the grill plate


toss gently with the vinaigrette


and eat!


such a cute book, filled with family-friendly recipes 




artwork © Sherry's Pickings  

29 comments:

  1. The salad looks so enticing and yum with those pan grilled halloumi!

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  2. Community cookbooks have been an American tradition for over 100 years, and I know quite a few collectors of one genre or another (like church cookbooks, for example). I wonder when they started in Australia and if libraries and collectors are also interested.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. hi Mae
      yes there are lots of these books around. always so handy if you are after family type and homely classic recipes.

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  3. Mr P enjoyed the grilling session - but the eating was pretty darn good! Good recipe from Mrs P.

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  4. that sounds so good - we have been eating halloumi with lemon - wish I could convince others to eat with more veg but I suspect I will need to do this just for me! More for me!

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  5. It's a big yes to anything with halloumi for me! :D

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  6. Interesting combination of flavors - grilling brings out the best in veggies and even cheese.

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    1. hi judi
      nothing squeakier and nicer than grilled halloumi:)

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  7. The salad looks delicious and that dressing is perfect, Sherry. I love halloumi but haven't seen them in stores so i mostly use paneer for this kind of grilled salad.

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    Replies
    1. where do you live balvinder? paneer sounds like a good substitute. but is it squeaky too?

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  8. Love those sorts of cookbooks! No need for them to be vintage and weird -- I'm both of those, so I've got that covered. :D Anyway, super looking recipe -- thanks.

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  9. Love the community cookbooks and seeing what people make at home. This halloumi salad looks hearty and delicious. Love the grill marks!

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  10. Halloumi salad sounds real good and good to see the recipe came from a community cookbook. I'd certainly make this, esp, as I don't do BBQs. I haven't seen much in the way of community cookbooks here, but there has been an increase in publications from charity organisations that work with women who are refugees and asylum seekers and sharing recipes from their home country,.

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    Replies
    1. yep halloumi is such a great addition to a salad. so squeaky! it's fun.

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  11. Wow, this sounds wonderful and such a great way to use my home-brined capers. And that cookbook is the most elegant high school cookbooks I have ever seen!

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    1. hi david
      i really enjoyed the capers in the dressing. gave it lots of flavour! thanks for dropping by.

      Delete
  12. Roasted salads are the best! I've never tried roasting halloumi. In fact I've never tried halloumi. Looks like a wonderful salad.

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    Replies
    1. never had halloumi! oh my you have a treat in store:) that squeaky cheesiness is so divine. thanks!

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  13. That cookbook is indeed gorgeous! And what a find to come across this recipe. Halloumi is such an interesting cheese since you can cook it without it melting. I'm loving the sound of the flavors in this recipe, Sherry! Also, a donkey nibbled on your arm? Haha!

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  14. I love capers. I bought all of my friends a bag of precious Bunya Red capers for Christmas only to find out that one of my (so called) frineds didn't eat capers! I wanted to snatch them back and say 'That's OK, I'll get you a box of chocolates'.

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    Replies
    1. ooh yes that would be very sad indeed. you should have definitely grabbed them back! It's not easy to get bunya red as they sell out so fast.

      Delete

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