Charred Halloumi And Pepper Salad

If you are doing a huge batch of these salads, you can assemble them, place them on an oven tray and warm them all under the grill just before you serve.

YIELDS
4 Servings

FOR THE HALLOUMI
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp yellow mustard seeds
400 g halloumi (cut into 8mm slices)
½ cup olive oil
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
½ tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 small handful fresh basil sprigs (to garnish)

FOR THE PEPPER SALAD
2 medium red peppers
2 medium yellow peppes
100 g black olives
30 ml red wine vinegar
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
1 clove garlic (sliced)
2 sprigs thyme
250 g cherry tomatoes (roasted)
60 g rocket

Method

Put a griddle pan on the heat and get it smoking hot.

Combine the herbs, spices and seasoning with the olive oil and toss the halloumi in the mixture until it is well coated.

Grill each piece of cheese on the griddle pan for about 1 minute on each side. They should char on the outside but just about hold their shape. My advice would be to char these pieces in advance then place them on a tray. You can warm them in the oven
minutes before you serve.

Make the salad. Char the peppers by placing them directly on the gas hob, whole, until they go pitch black all over. Alternatively, you can roast them in the oven or under the grill until blackened and soft.

Seal them in an airtight container and let them sweat until they cool (this helps separate the skin from the flesh).

Remove the peppers and use a knife to scrape the skin off the outside and the seeds out of the inside of them

Using your hands, shred the peppers into strips.

Add the peppers, olives, red wine vinegar, olive oil, garlic and thyme to a small saucepan and bring to a simmer for about 5
minutes for the flavours to infuse and get sucked up by the peppers.

Lay the peppers, olives, cherry tomatoes and warm halloumi out on a platter.

Drizzle with the marinade from the saucepan and garnish with basil before serving.