Crispy Haloumi Pearl Couscous Salad

Haloumi or halloumi?  Apparently, halloumi is for the cheese that actually comes from Cyprus (and is a mixture of cows', sheep and goats' milks), so haloumi it is!  Not sure I've ever had pearl couscous before (or maybe I did many moons ago), so this was a new experience.  (I did in fact end up buying both sorts of cheese!)

Did I ever tell you my story about having breakfast in a Greek café in Nafplio?  Mr P. and I had breakfast down by the water, where we ate yoghurt and honey.  Oh my word!!  If you like the taste of billy goat ...  that yoghurt was a bowl of horror.  Reminds me of buying scrumpy (rough farmhouse apple cider) in Somerset (or was it Devon?).  Oh boy, I reckon they'd thrown a handful of cow dung into the apple press :=)    

This is a recipe from Tonight by Nagi Maehashi, the well-loved Aussie cook.  Some of you may know of her through her website, and her cookbooks.  She is in the middle of a plagiarism barney at the moment, as she is accusing a Brisbane baker of stealing a few of her recipes.  And a couple of other cooks are up in arms too.  Someone suggested the 'naughty' cook had just typed in a request to ChatGPT for recipes - tee hee :=)  

Just FYI, a list of ingredients isn't under copyright, but your prose - how you write the method - most certainly is!  So that's why I always re-write the method, and give attribution to the original cook.  I remember there was a local foodie/blogger/entrepreneur who would add fabulous recipes to her website, but they were very VERY clearly those of Nigella Lawson!!  You simply cannot mistake Nigella's voice, ever!  When I called her out on it, she just basically said: "Oh yeah."  Without the slightest bit of guilt or remorse!  Grrrrrrr!

crispy, herby, fresh and delicious

Serves 4:

ingredients:

Pearl couscous:

1 Tbs EV olive oil

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped or grated

165g./6 oz pearl couscous

375 mL/12.7 oz vegetable or chicken stock

1/4 tsp sea salt flakes

Lemon Dressing:

3 Tbs lemon juice

80 mL/2.7 oz EV olive oil

1 garlic clove, finely chopped or grated

1 tsp sea salt flakes

1/4 tsp black pepper

Crispy honey-glazed haloumi:

1 Tbs EV olive oil

400g./14 oz haloumi, cut into 1.5 cm/0.6 inch cubes

2 tsp honey (or maple syrup, says Nagi, but I guess you can use whatever syrup you like)

Salad:

100g./3.5 oz baby spinach leaves, roughly chopped or torn into wee pieces   see Notes

3 tomatoes, chopped up and seeds removed (or not, as you please)

2 cucumbers, sliced lengthwise then chopped into small pieces   see Notes

2 spring (green) onions aka shallots/scallions, finely sliced

1 avocado, cut into small cubes   see Notes

6g./0.2 oz mint leaves, chopped   see Notes

5g./0.2 oz coriander or parsley leaves, chopped

2 Tbs dill, chopped

Method:

For the couscous:

Grab a large saucepan, pour in the oil and place over medium heat

In goes the garlic, and cook for 20 seconds

Heat goes up to high; stir in the couscous for one minute

Now add the stock and salt

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover with a lid

Simmer for ten minutes, or till the liquid has gone

And tip the couscous into a bowl, and let it cool down for around 30 minutes - don't worry if it turns into a solid block!

For the dressing: grab a jar, put the ingredients inside, and give it a good shake!

Now for the haloumi:

Grab your large, non-stick frying pan, and put it over a medium-high heat

In go the haloumi cubes, and you toss 'em till light golden

Then drizzle over the honey or syrup, and toss for another minute

Pour out into a bowl to cool a bit, while you make the salad

For the salad:

You now pour half the dressing over the couscous, and give it a toss

Tip in the salad ingredients, and the rest of the dressing (I snuck in chives, parsley and coriander rather than dill and mint - Mr P. and I are not fans)

Give it all a really good toss, and cast on the haloumi

Garnish with some more chopped herbs if you feel inclined

baby spinach leaves

Notes:

Nagi doesn't say what type of cukes, so does she mean those long English ones or the short, squat ones, or the short and thin ones?  Who knows?  I just went for Lebanese cukes, which are kinda short

Nagi is very precise about her cube sizes, but I reckon just go for whatever size you fancy

Avocadoes are not ripe at the moment, so I fudged it with a green capsicum

Not such a big fan of spinach, so I used about 60g.!

FYI, the haloumi weeped a fair bit while frying, so I spooned out the excess liquid so it became crispy, rather than going into a big sweat

red tomatoes

ingredients gathered

stir in that couscous, let it boil, then simmer for about 10 mins.

and it's done

cool that couscous and chop that cheese

crispy and golden!

shake that dressing

and chop those cukes!

couscous into the bowl

and add the salad

and in goes the dressing 

top the salad with the crispy haloumi

eat!

spring onions

cucumbers

Joining in with Jo from BKD Cookbook Club; this month's theme is recipes from celebrity chefs!