Tomato salad with fried halloumi and oregano

This tomato salad with fried halloumi is a mash-up of a Greek salad and Panzanella where the fried halloumi replaces the feta and the pita makes up the bread component (crouton). It’s pretty tasty. I mean when is fried cheese not tasty? I haven’t had fried halloumi for quite a while because of the high-calorie scare, but this squeaky cheese is rather delicious. It needs a good dose of acid – like lemon juice or vinegar to break through and give it zing. The tomatoes worked perfectly to balance things out too.

 Once again I found myself with a few leftover odds and ends after a very big TV shoot last week, so in my attempt to combat food waste, I’m scraping together meals I might not normally have done. I’m also starting to feel like I’ve made everything on this blog.

So this salad is really more of an idea rather than a recipe. For the dressing, I just used red wine vinegar, olive oil, Maldon salt, chopped oregano, and black pepper, but my favourite vinaigrette would work well here too. I squeezed lemon juice over the freshly fried halloumi too.

Have everything made before you do the final step and fry the Halloumi. It goes really quickly and is best served straight away while warm and still soft.

I made the pita croutons out of wholewheat pita because I love the nutty flavour and simply tore it into rough pieces. I brushed it with a mix of olive oil, dried oregano, salt, and pepper before roasting it in a 180C / 350 F oven until it just started to go brown around the edges but was still fairly soft.

To fry the halloumi use a lower-grade olive or sunflower oil and heat enough to just cover the base of your pan. When it’s sizzling, carefully lay your cheese slices in and watch as they brown very quickly. Turn and allow the other side to brown. Be careful as things can get quite splattery here. 

This salad was made up of halved and quartered vine tomatoes, cucumber, and sliced red onions. Toss the salad with the dressing of your choice, the pita croutons, and a sprinkle of finely chopped oregano, and then place your hot pieces of fried halloumi on top at the end.

Hello Summer!

You may also like my halloumi saganaki with sultanas and pecans

 

BUY MY NEW eBOOK 

 

 Find me on Instagram & Pinterest