I often receive questions along the lines of, "how do I start to eat healthier/more produce/vegetarian." I often feel that people expect a step by step process from me but the truth is, it takes finding your own rhythm. Two things I do suggest though: start small and find ways to balance the healthy/treats. This halloumi salad is a balance for me. It's loaded with good ingredients and balanced with one of my favorite treats: halloumi. You can't go wrong with fried cheese, even in salads.
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This halloumi salad combines the healthy power of quinoa and spinach with fried halloumi cheese and a creamy hemp dressing.
Tips & Tricks: If you do not have a high-powdered blender, let the hemp seeds soak in water for about an hour before blending.
If you can't find halloumi, some stores sell a generic 'frying cheese' that can work in place of halloumi.
Stock up: get the pantry ingredients you will need: Quinoa, Halloumi, Hemp Seeds
Nutrition: get the information.
This is one of those feel-good, perfect for the beginning of the year, salads. The greens, quinoa, avocado, and hemp dressing make for a power-packed salad while the salty cheese helps to balance it all out. While not a variation I've tried, if you can't find halloumi, you could try roasting feta and adding it to the salad.
Vegan: While the focus of this salad is the fried halloumi, you could easily swap it out for crispy fried (or roasted) tofu!
Greens: grab whatever greens look fresh at the market: lettuce, kale, or arugula would all work in this salad. Or, you could drop the greens and make this a halloumi quinoa bowl!
Grains: Have leftover grains from dinner? Use them in place of the quinoa! I've done similar salads with sorghum, millet, and freekeh. This halloumi salad is delicious with all types of grains.
If you've been around this site for any amount of time, you know I have a bit of a love obsession with halloumi. It's the perfect balance of salty flavor and crisp texture which can be a perfect pairing for vegetables and greens. When you're picking up halloumi, check the package. Some halloumi is made with animal rennet but there are brands that use vegetarian or microbial rennet.
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I seriously can't get enough of quinoa in ANY salad. I also have a love obsession with halloumi - I made some fried halloumi tacos using a tortilla made of zucchini. Can't get enough of it!
Fried cheese in salad is probably the best way to get the least vegetarian/salad-eating/green-food-phobic person on board for salads;) You are right! Also, this salad looks delicious!!
So delish! I love your video and I'm feeling so inspired to try this delicious salad!
Hello! This salad looks very tempting and is surely delicious, however, Halloumi is not vegetarian as it is set with rennet, which is usually extracted from the stomach of the calf.
It's just good to know, in case somebody is really vegetarian....
Maybe halloumi can be substituted with another cheese made without animal rennet?
I just saw that you actually mentioned the bit about animal rennet and halloumi, sorry .....I've never managed to find Halloumi made without animal rennet, but maybe it does exist in your area. Here it is hard to find any cheese without animal rennet!
Thanks for the recipe!
So strange- all halloumi in my area is vegetarian friendly. Paneer is also a good sub- it can also be made easily at home!
Silly question here, is it 3 tablespoons of each herb or 1 tablespoon each?
1 tablespoon each
Do you think I could make this without the hemp seeds or do they play a crucial role?
They are pretty crucial for the dressing but you could do cashews instead or make a homemade ranch with herbs.
Just made this for lunch for my husband and I. So delicious! Now I’m obsessed with halloumi too!