When M and I first moved in together, we were just about as young and naive as two people could be. We had only been dating for about 5 months and I had been working a job at a bakery that was 40 miles away from where I was living. I decided that if I wanted to really keep working at the bakery, I was going to need to move closer and since M worked from home, he came along for the ride. We're definitely trial by fire type people and still to this day that was one of the hardest learning experiences.
One of the biggest shocks was day in and day out food. Sure, we had eaten together quite a few times but we also ate out quite a bit. However, living was more expensive and so we focused on eating at home (it would be about this point in time that he might pipe into the conversation and mention something about me cooking 'Erin' sized meals for a person twice her weight). I was eating vegetarian and he was eating everything but vegetarian, so finding middle ground was really challenging- especially since I had just started learning to cook.
Through trial and error we found that one of our biggest assets was the grill. I could cook multiple items at one time and create simple meals based around those items. M would get a piece of grilled chicken while I'd grill vegetables that we would split (and my half would be made into some sort of grain/bean bowl). We made it work and through that, I found a deep love for grilling vegetables. These skewers are rather large step up from the vegetables I was grilling back then but are highly worth the extra bit of effort. Grilled sweet potatoes are nothing short of amazing and when paired with a salty cheese, I could eat for days. The kicker (literally and figuratively) here is the sriracha. My spice tolerance right now is at an all time low, so feel free to add as much as you want- it's really up to personal preference!
(PS- if you scroll to the bottom of any page, you'll see a new area on the site that is featuring all images tagged #naturallyella on instagram. If you make a recipe from the site, share it, and tag it- you might just see your image below!)
While halloumi is great for grilling, it's not always so great for skewers. Make sure you are cooking the skewers on something that is well oiled as the cheese likes to stick. When turning the skewers, use tongs and carefully pull up on the pieces of halloumi before turning. And if the halloumi falls off, grill separately and serve alongside the skewers.
Hi, Ella, I love your idea for making vegetarian skewers. Your skewers look beautiful. In the Southwest on vegetarian skewers, we use zucchini, summer squash, pineapple, about 3 different colors of bell peppers, mushrooms, and onions. I like your idea for the Sriracha-Tahini flavor. It sounds pretty incredible.
I love anything with sweet potatoes, so I am looking forward to trying this recipe! Thanks for sharing.
Yum! This looks so good! I've never tried halloumi before, but this looks amazing! I'm pumped to try it!
We don't have a grill (or the space for a grill) which makes me so sad because I feel, like you, it's a great way to blend together two eating styles that don't always match. These skewers sounds so delicious - that tahini-sriracha marinade sounds like pretty much the best thing ever.
Kathryn: You can always buy a stovetop grill pan that serves the same purpose as a traditional outdoor grill.
Wow these look amazing, and I've recently bought my first ever jar of tahini so I'm going a bit mad with recipes that use it. I love halloumi too and although I do eat meat, I try and keep my consumption of it reasonably low so meat-free meals that look delicious are fab! 🙂
Alice xx
This sounds so wonderful! Definitely an idea for a summer barbecue!
The recipe looks delicious. I love anything with sweet potatoes.
I love sweet potato! I've never grilled it though! This sounds wonderful!
I never thought that sweet potatoes and halloumi would be a perfect combination, and for grilling at that. Your recipe looks delicious and will definitely try it this weekend. Thanks!
I'm bookmarking this to make when we finally pull out our grill. I had the most amazing sweet potato and halloumi sandwich when I was in London last year, and this takes it up a notch!
these look perfect for a BBQ!!! yumm
These look so good! All of my favourite flavours and a perfect lunch. Definitely one I'll be trying.
These look blooming incredible! I'll definitely have to give these a try! I'm obsessed with both sweet potato and halloumi!
Danielle xx
Just made these for my family for dinner. They were delicious and everyone enjoyed (even dedicated meat eaters)! Thank you for the recipe.
I honestly had no idea that you could grill sweet potatoes. I love sweet potatoes. My parents love potatoes! We’re going to try this! This is perfect for upcoming season!
Love this idea! This may well become my summer BBQ go to recipe. I'm vegan so will try using pineapple instead of halloumi for some variation. I imagine you could also steam the sweet potato ahead of time to and let it sit in the marinade until ready to grill. Yum!
Tahini and homemade barbeque!! Perfect combo for a great weekend! Thanks for the recipe! 🙂
This literally sounds like the most incredibly veggie bbq-ish dish I have ever come across. I love all of those things, thank you so much for such a delicious recipe 🙂
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ALWAYS A DILEMA .......... WHEN INSTRUCTED TO GRILL SOMETHING FOR A SPECIFIED TIME PER SIDE. WHO DECIDES HOW MANY SIDES ARE INVOLVED ??? DOES THIS SKEWER HAVE TWO SIDES OR FOUR SIDES ???
You use your best judgement and rotate as needed. (and I would say 4, as the cubed items on this skewer have four sides that face out.)
I love the look of this recipe!
Ang ideas on a subsitute for the Sriracha (much too hot for my partner and myself) that would go w/ the Tahini?
Thank you 🙂
You could greatly limit it, try a garlic chili paste, or just leave it out!
We just made these last night, and they were so good! I was a bit afraid of over-cooking the sweet potato beforehand, but next time I will cook it longer so they are a bit softer. My go-to method for steaming sweet potatoes is the microwave. I pre-cut the potatoes and put a little water on the bottom of the bowl to steam, which works quite well (and saves some pots!). The halloumi also held together great on the grill with very careful turning 🙂
I was out of tahini, and had fresh herbs on hand, so I made a version of chimichurri to go on these, which was a serious hit. Here's the recipe if anyone would like a sauce alternative:
1/2 cup parsley chopped (or cilantro)
1/2 cup basil chopped
1 T oregano chopped
1 small garlic clove minced
Juice from one lemon or lime
Crushed red pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil (more or less)
This was also good on grilled squash. I might add them to the skewers next time. Thanks for the great veggie-friendly grill recipe!