Quarantinechef: grilled veg and halloumi salad

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It’s still the SUMMERTIME SADNESS edition of #quarantinechef - it’s been 95+ degrees for days in Denver, smoke from wildfires blankets the air, ash has fallen on my patio furniture, and we’re still in the middle of a fucking pandemic.

But I have a grill (and a wine cellar), so I gotta keep going. Tonight’s recipe: grilled vegetables with halloumi cheese and a perfect lemony honey vinaigrette.

halloumisalad.jpg

This recipe is from the America’s Test Kitchen ‘Complete Mediterranean Cookbook’ (link to buy). It was super simple and yet turned out better than I could have imagined. Perfectly charred veg + bitter radicchio (made less bitter through grilling) + a tangy vinaigrette + the salty, squeaky deliciousness of halloumi cheese = something that will almost make you forget the apocalypse.

INGREDIENTS

I think you could get creative here (the original recipe called for 2 eggplant, but I didn’t have eggplant and so used summer squash and a yellow bell pepper instead), but I used:

VEG:

  • 2 summer squash

  • 2 zucchini

  • 1 head radicchio

  • 1 yellow bell pepper

  • 1 package halloumi (approx 8oz?)

VINAIGRETTE:

  • 3 tbsp lemon juice + 1/2 tsp lemon zest (I was lazy and didn’t add the zest)

  • 1 garlic clove, minced (I used two because more garlic is always better)

  • 3 tbsp honey

  • 1 tbsp fresh thyme (I didn’t have any, so I threw in some dried thyme)

  • 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper

  • 2 tbsp olive oil

INSTRUCTIONS:

For the veg:

  • Preheat your grill. Mine is gas, so I preheated on high for 15min, then brushed off any residue from my last SUMMERTIME SADNESS adventure. After that, I turned it down to medium.

  • Remove any damaged outer leaves of the radicchio and cut the radicchio head into quarters (through the core, so that the stem has a chance of holding each quarter together)

  • Slice your other veg into equally thick portions (i.e. I sliced a zucchini lengthwise into three parts)

  • Slice your halloumi into half-inch-thick sections

  • Brush olive oil on both sides of the veg and cheese; season with salt and pepper

  • When your grill is preheated and cleaned, brush the grate generously all over with olive oil

  • Place your veg on the grill!

  • If you do it right, your veg will look like this:

grilledveg

  • The radicchio only takes 3-5min to cook (turning once or twice to char more sections)

  • The other veg and halloumi were perfect by cooking for 5min on one side, flipping, and cooking five minutes on the other

  • When it’s done, remove all veg and halloumi from the heat and let cool slightly

For the vinaigrette:

  • Whisk together 3tbsp honey, 3tbsp lemon juice, 1/2 tbsp dried thyme (or 1tbsp fresh), 1-2 minced garlic cloves, 1/8 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper. Do this in the large serving bowl that you’ll finish the dish in, and set aside while you cook.

  • When the veg is off the grill, slowly add 3 tbsp of olive oil to the aforementioned honey/lemon mix. Whisk constantly while adding the oil to form a vinaigrette

To finish:

  • Chop all veg and cheese into ~1” pieces

  • Add the veg and cheese to the bowl with the vinaigrette and mix to completely dress the salad

  • Serve and enjoy!

PRODUCTION NOTES

  • Halloumi is this amazing cheese from Cyprus that is brined (aka salty), has a very high melt point (i.e. can be grilled), and is very squeaky (like a cheese curd). I don’t see it much in the US, but it was all over when I spent a few weeks in London a couple of years ago.

    • Yes, I’m that bitch who references her six weeks in London like she’s special.

  • You could substitute any variety of squashes, eggplant, peppers, etc. and I think it would be great!