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Thursday 23 July 2020

Cauliflower Rice and Halloumi Lentil Salad : Vegetarian


Don't throw away the leaves of a cauliflower! Use them in this recipe where they are drizzled with oil and roasted until crisp, thus making sure that you use the whole vegetable and nothing is wasted. The rest of the cauliflower is blitzed into cauliflower rice, mixed with lentils and topped with tasty fried halloumi for a great vegetarian salad.

Ingredients
Serves Two
1 small cauliflower with leaves
1 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
150g halloumi, cubed
390g tin green lentils, drained and rinsed
30g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
½ lemon, juiced
100g cherry tomatoes, quartered

Method
1. Preheat the grill to medium. Peel off the cauliflower leaves, breaking up any large ones if needed, and set aside. Coarsely grate the cauliflower florets and the stalk, then spread out on a large baking tray. Sprinkle with the cumin seeds, 1 tbsp oil and some seasoning; toss to coat evenly.
2. Grill for 6 mins, then stir. Rub the cauliflower leaves with a little oil, add to the baking tray and grill for 6 mins.
3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the halloumi and fry, stirring occasionally, for 2 mins until golden and crispy.
4. Remove the tray of cauliflower leaves from the grill, then mix the cauliflower rice on a serving plate with the lentils, parsley and lemon juice. Serve topped with the crispy cauliflower leaves, halloumi and tomatoes.
Tips

Choose a cauliflower with small green leaves that don’t cover the whole head, so you won’t have to break them up before roasting. Halve any larger leaves.
If you don't have cauliflower try using broccoli.
Nutrition Per Serving
Fat 27g Carbs 27.1g Fibre 5.5g Protein 32.5g
Recipe from an original idea here

Have you heard of Halloumi? It's pronounced ha-loo-mee. It's a semi-hard chewy, white cheese originating from Cyprus and made from cow's, goat's or sheep's milk, or a combination. It has a mild salty flavour and lends itself beautifully to cooking due to its firm texture which is retained even when cooked and exposed to high temperatures. It has become a firm favourite in our household and sometimes we just cook a couple of slices and enjoy them as a snack!

As an alternative to Halloumi you could consider Paneer, Kefalotyri, Queso Para Freir, Manouri (or feta).


Dear reader, this blog offers a wide variety of articles/recipe/food ideas, and not all may be suitable for YOU. If you may have any food likes / dislikes, allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter. 

All the best Jan

27 comments:

Debbie said...

this looks really good!! i am not a huge fan of cauliflower , but i think for this i could make an exception. really nice ingredients!!

VENTANA DE FOTO said...

Tiene buena vista la ensalada. Ahora se apetece mรกs que nunca.

Besos

Tom said...

...now that would be good on a hot summer day.

Elephant's Child said...

I had never heard (or thought of) using cauliflower leaves like that. Thanks for the tip.

William Kendall said...

I'd try that.

Valerie-Jael said...

This sounds very yummy! Valerie

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

Sounds very good....I am sorry for all the cauliflower leaves I have wasted! Carrot tops can make a broth or be added to soups...

happyone said...

That does look good!!

It's me said...

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......love this ....๐Ÿ’•๐Ÿ€๐Ÿ’•....love Ria

Christine said...

I love the idea of using leaves and stalk, who knew?

My name is Erika. said...

I haven't heard of halloumi. Good to learn something new!

Conniecrafter said...

Wow that was such great presentation of that meal :)

Dennis Yannakos said...

Yum! Thank you for the recipe!

peppylady (Dora) said...

I could see green with it.

mamasmercantile said...

I must admit I never use the leaves what a great idea so their is no waste.

Margaret D said...

Looks interesting.

Jo said...

I've never used cauliflower leaves, I bet there's so many parts of vegetables that get wasted.

DIMI said...

Sounds very delicious! Love halloumi cheese and Cauliflower too!
Thank you for sharing the recipe! Have a great weekend! Stay safe!
Dimi...

Icy BC said...

Looks very healthy and yummy! I didn't know we can eat cauliflower leaves, and usually just toss them out. Thanks you for this!

Natalia said...

Beautiful! So healthy and colorfull! Stay safe and healthy everyone ☺

Caty said...

OOh I like very much rice in salads ! I put lots of ingredients Jan.
Thanks so much for sharing, and have a great weekend,
Stay safe and big hugs,
Caty

R's Rue said...

Yum.

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I learned something new today, Jan. I had NO idea I could use the cauliflower leaves. This sounds wonderful and I must remember this recipe the next time I purchase a head of cauliflower.

Sandra Cox said...

Now that's my kind of dish.

dellgirl said...

This Cauliflower Rice and Halloumi Lentil Salad looks delicious. I had not a salad with rice before, thank you for sharing this new kind of recipe. Wishing you a wonderful weekend, Stay Safe, my friend!

Lorrie said...

I never thought of using the cauliflower leaves! Lentils are cooking on my stove right now for a lentil salad with feta cheese.

DVArtist said...

I have cauliflower in my garden I will try the leaves.