Beetroot, Pumpkin Haloumi Salad
A lovely simple warm salad that is great in summer and winter too.
Ingredients
Salad
- 600 gm pumpkin cut into pieces and roasted, weighed before peeling
- 250 gm beetroot pre-cooked packet beetroot sliced- or cut or 4 roasted cut
- 200 gm haloumi cheese 1 packet, sliced thickly
- 30 gm sunflower seeds toasted
- 1/2 bunch chives chopped
- 1/4 bunch parley rough chopped
- 2 tablespoons basil optional, sliced
Dressing
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 40 ml vinegar ( white or red wine or apple cider apple etc)
- 150 ml olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon honey if your vinegar is not sweet. Shake taste and add if needed
Instructions
- Turn the oven onto 180C / 350 F Make the salad dressing by putting the dijon, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper into a jar and shaking. Make sure the balance of sugar and salt is right if you need to add a little honey or white sugar.(Make sure the ingredients are dissolved before adding more) Dressing should taste great even before you add the salad!
- Cut the pre-cooked beetroot into small wedges and put into a bowl with some of the chopped chives and parsley a sprinkle of salt and 2-3 tablespoons of dressing and mix well. Leave aside till needed ** If you are cooking beetroot, peel. Sprinkle each with a little salt and pepper add some oil and wrap in foil. Bake for an hour in an oven at 180C/ 350F. Test by inserting a knife. Depending on the size they may need more time. Once done they should be cooled slightly before beetroots can also be sliced and tossed in dressing as above.
- Peel and slice the pumpkin into even sized pieces and toss in salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a baking tray. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes or till tender. Set aside.
- Arrange the beetroot on a big plate or very shallow bowl. I like to put the dressed beetroot down first reserving a few pieces for the top. Next put the pumpkin on top sprinkling with extra herbs if you like. (The beetroot in salad dressing is a bit messy mixed in a bowl with other ingredients, so this is why I put it on the plate first)
- Set aside while you grill the haloumi.
- Heat a grill pan to very hot. Either wipe the grill plate with some oil or roll each piece of haloumi in a tiny bit of olive oil before grilling for a couple of minutes on each side or till just coloured golden. Make sure to use a flat spatular to flip your cheese
- Arrange the Haloumi onto the top of the salad sprinkle with extra herbs & sunflower seeds You can add extra dressing if you like, but I take it to the table and get people to add more if they want. This keeps the salad from running with too much beetrooty colour!
Notes
Helpful hints for making this salad perfect.
- First use a nice flat salad plate
- Use part of the dressing and coat the beetroot in a bowl by itself with some of add salt and pepper then chives and parsley for flavour reserving some for the top.
- Place most of the beetroot on the bottom of the dish. This will keep the salad looking lovely and neat. If you mix all in the ingredients together everything will be pink!
- Save a few pieces of beetroot for the top.
- Grill the Haloumi just before you eat the salad. Grilled Haloumi doesn’t keep well it goes a little hard
- Wipe the grill bars well with oil so the cheese doesn’t stick. Once it goes on the grill leave it for several minutes before you try to turn. It will be easier to turn over.
- Use a flat spatular for turn the cheese on the grill
- Once the Haloumi is grilled add it to the top of the salad and decorate with extra herbs, seeds and beetroot.
- It’s ready you are going to be SO happy. Let people add more dressing if they like!