The sight of me making a salad is rare. Exquisite, but rare. It’s just that after a grueling day slumped motionless in front of a computer screen I need something warm and hearty – two things a salad seldom is. Unless it’s made from roasted veg, mixed beans and draped with some sort of fried cheese, say.
Fried halloumi salad with chilli and crispy garlic
Get yourself:
4 baby aubergines (the ones that are about as long as your finger).
1 large courgette.
Half a red onion.
3/4 tin of mixed beans (mine were chickpeas and fava beans).
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped.
Half a large red chilli, de-seeded and equally finely chopped.
5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
A handful of coriander leaf and stalk, chopped coarsely.
Warm the oil on a low heat and add the chopped garlic and chilli. Keep stirring until the garlic is golden-brown and looks crunchy. Then take off the heat and sieve, retaining both the flavoured oil and the crispy bits.
Slice the courgette in long diagonal lengths, about 5mm thick, and do the same to the aubergines. Peel your onion and slice in into rounds, again, about 5mm thick. Douse your veg in the flavoured oil, keeping aside one tablespoon for later on. Now season the veg with a good pinch of salt and put under a hot grill, or if you have a griddle pan: use that. As they are cooking, add your beans to a pan and begin to warm them through. Once your vegetables are soft and look nicely roasted, remove them from the grill and add them to a large bowl with your warmed beans. Add the juice of half a lemon and mix.
Now it’s time to fry your halloumi. Add the remaining spicy oil to a medium-hot non-stick pan and fry the cheese until brown on both sides.
To finish, add the chopped coriander to the salad and check the dressing with your finger – it may need another squeeze of lemon. Then lay on the fried cheese and garnish with a sprinkle of the crispy garlic and chilli mix. Hearty veg, zesty dressing, salty cheese: rude-bwoy-inna-Kingstan!
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