Halloumi Salad with Figs
Servings: 6 People
Ingredients
- 1 ½ 300g Halloumi, Charalambides Christis, thickly sliced and cut into 2cm cubes
- 8-10 Small Black Figs , not very soft, halved
- 3 Thin and Long Japanese eggplants , sliced into 1cm rounds
- 4 Thin and Small Zucchinis , sliced into 1cm rounds
- 18-20 Cherry Tomatoes
- 14 Black Olives
- 1 tbsp Capers , roughly chopped
- 7 tbsp EVOO , Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 Cup Wild Purslane , leaves picked
- 2 Slices Traditional Cypriot Round Loaf Bread , 1cm thickness
- 1 tsp Dry Oregano , ground
- 1 Clove Garlic , peeled and lightly smashed
- Few Basil Flowers
- 1 tsp Fine Sea Salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
For the vinaigrette
- 3 tbsp Hazelnuts
- 30 ml Apple Cider Vinegar , or a mild white vinegar
- 50 ml EVOO , Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Grain Mustard
- 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
- 1 tbsp Honey
- ½ tsp Fine Sea Salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground Black Pepper
Instructions
- We start with the vinaigrette by toasting the hazelnuts in a pan until their oils are released and they are slighltly browned. Once cooled, we roughly chop them and add them back into the pan at low heat along with the oil.
- Then add the apple cider vinegar and season with the salt and pepper. Add both mustards and whisk well. Add the honey, mix well and keep aside in the pan.
- Then we make the croutons by removing the edges of the bread slices and cutting them into 1cm cubes. We use a frying pan on medium heat and we pour 2 tbsp of olive oil along with the smashed garlic. A minute later we drop in the cut bread and we stir fry until nicely crisped. Half way through we add the dry oregano. We discard the garlic and we remove the croutons to a plate.
- We use an oven proof dish and we add the cut eggplants and zucchinis. We drizzle with about 3 tbsp of olive oil, we season with some salt and pepper and we toss well. We place the dish into a fully preheat oven, max degrees, broiler/griller on and rack set at the very top near the elements of the grill. We cook for 2-3’ and then we flip the vegetables cooking for further 2-3’. We remove from the oven into a plate and keep aside.
- In the same dish we add the halloumi cubes and we return the dish to the oven, grilling them for a total of about 5’, tossing them couple of times until browned lightly. We remove from the oven into a plate and keep aside.
- We place our frying pan on medium heat and once it heats up we pour 1 tbsp of olive oil. A minute late we drop in the cherry tomatoes, we sprinkle some salt and we cook until they blister. Remove from the pan into a plate and keep aside.
- In the same pan we add another tbsp of olive and a minute late we add the figs, cut side facing down, cooking them for 2-3’ until softened and caramelised. Remove from the pan into a plate and keep aside.
- We add into a large bowl the eggplants, zucchini, halloumi, cherry tomatoes along with the figs, olives, capers and 2/3 of the croutons and we toss gently.
- We take a deep serving plate and we place the purslane leaves. We add on top the above mixture and drizzle all-over the vinaigrette, then sprinkle the remaining croutons, scatter the basil flowers and serve immediately.