Grilled Halloumi with Salad

salad ingredients
8 ripe plum tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 T chopped fresh thyme
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
450g (1lb) halloumi cheese, cut into bite-sized cubes
crisp lettuce or mixed greens

vinaigrette ingredients
4 cloves garlic, unpeeled
juice of 1 lemon
120mL (4 fl. oz.) grapeseed or olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

method
Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Lay the tomato slices on a baking tray. Sprinkle with the garlic, thyme, salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Roast for 1 hour, or until their size had reduced by half. (I roast them for about 25-30 minutes.) Keep warm.

Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Bring a small pan of water to the boil, add the unpeeled garlic cloves and poach for 20 minutes. Drain and peel. In a blender or food processor, place the poached garlic, lemon juice and grapeseed or olive oil. Pulse-blend until smooth. Add water to achieve a pouring yet coating consistency and season to taste with salt and pepper. Or, omit the garlic and whisk the vinaigrette ingredients together for a quicker, yet still tasty, dressing.

Heat a griddle pan over a high heat. Cook the halloumi on both sides until a nice crust has formed.

In a serving bowl combine the lettuce, roasted tomatoes and freshly grilled halloumi with the vinaigrette. Toss together and serve immediately.

note
I omit the garlic from the tomatoes and the dressing and it's still delicious!

Pomegranate Pear Salad with Maple Nut Dressing

Pomegranate Pear Salad Recipe with Maple Nut Dressing

Serves 4. Approx 140 calories.

Ingredients

• 1/3 - 1/2 cup almond butter
• juice from 1 lemon
• 6 Tbsp water
• 4 Tbsp 100% pure maple syrup (if you’re using Grade B, just use 3 Tbsp)
• 1/8 tsp cinnamon
• 6 cups mixed greens (I used a mix of 1/2 dark winter greens and 1/2 spinach)
• 3 pears
• 3/4 cup pomegranate arils (or use blueberries and/or strawberries instead)

Directions

Prepare dressing in a small bowl by whisking together almond butter, lemon juice, water, maple syrup and cinnamon. Let sit for about 5 minutes while you slice pears thinly and extract the pomegranate arils (or make your kids do it, or buy the arils already extracted). Toss greens in dressing, just a couple tablespoons at a time, until leaves are just coated. Top with sliced pears and pomegranate and serve immediately.

Note: You’ll have leftover dressing for tomorrow. If your fam isn’t going to eat the entire salad in one sitting, don’t toss greens in the dressing. It’s nice to toss, because the greens are evenly coated and you don’t have huge blotches of dressing running throughout your pear salad recipe. But it’s not worth it if your greens are going to be wilted the next day. Know what I mean?

green bean and chickpea salad with cherry tomatoes and red onion

ingredients
700g green beans
175g chickpeas, drained and rinsed
225g cherry tomatoes, halved

dressing ingredients
3T white wine vinegar
4T olive oil
salt and pepper
3T finely chopped fresh basil
1 red onion, diced

method
Wash, trim and halve the green beans and cook in boiling, salted water until tender, about 4-6 minutes. Drain, refresh in cold water and drain well. Put the beans, chickpeas and tomatoes in a serving bowl.

Mix the vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir in the basil and onion and check the seasoning. Mix with the salad and leave to stand before serving.

variations
add 1t finely grated lemon rind to the dressing
replace the basil with thyme
use borlotti beans instead of chickpeas

aubergine salad with pomegranate seeds, herbs and feta

ingredients
3 small-medium aubergines
5 T olive oil, plus more for brushing
salt and pepper
1 pomegranate
juice of 2 lemons
1 clove garlic
fresh parsley
fresh mint
175g crumbled feta

method
Wash the aubergines and cut into 1cm thick slices. Sprinkle with slat and leave to stand for about 15 minutes. Rinse with cold water and pat dry with kitchen towels. Brush the slices on both sides with some of the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill on both sides under a hot grill until golden brown.

Meanwhile, slice the pomegranate and carefully remove the seeds. Mix 5 T olive oil with the lemon juice. Press the garlic into the oil and lemon juice dressing and stir to combine. Sprinkle the warm aubergine slices with the dressing, toss and leave to stand for 2-3 minutes. Pick the leaves from the parsley and mint sprigs and mix with the aubergine slices. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Put the aubergine salad on a platter and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, scatter with crumbled feta and serve.

variations
use courgettes instead of aubergines
use courgettes and aubergines (I used one green and one yellow and it was delicious!)
use fresh basil instead of pomegranate seeds
use sun-dried tomatoes instead of pomegranate seeds
use coriander

warm lentil salad

ingredients
275g brown or Puy lentils
1/4 English cucumber or 1 Perisan cucumber, diced
1 C cherry tomatoes, quartered
5 radishes, cut into small sticks
2 carrots, finely diced or shredded
2 spring onions, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely diced
1 T finely chopped fresh parsley

dressing ingredients
2 T safflower oil (I used olive and it was good)
4 T apple cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

purslane or other greens to serve

method
Place the lentils in a large saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Turn heat to medium-low, cover and simmer about 30-40 minutes or until tender. Drain well.

In a bowl, mix the lentils with the prepared vegetables. Add the chopped parsely.

Make a dressing from the oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the lentil salad and mix well. Serve on a bed of purslane or other greens.

variations
add new potatoes
add chopped coriander
add fresh spinach