Bread and Butter: Haloumi and grape salad

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August 08, 2006

Haloumi and grape salad

It is boiling hot in Athens. I cannot bear to be in the kitchen, at least not too far from the fridge where it is cool. So, no cooking. We have to make do with salads and fruit and cheese.
Really, I have never asked you: Do you like mixing fruit and vegetables? Or are you strict purists?
I do not like all combinations, my absolute worst is watermelon and feta cheese, which totally kills off the freshness of the watermelon.
So, what is your favourite fruit and vegetable combination? (erm, wine and a green salad don't count).

For 3 servings

200 gr shredded lettuce leaves or other salad greens
150 gr seedless grapes
250 gr haloumi cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons pine nuts
3 tablespoons chopped parsley

For the dressing

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Salt – pepper

Toss walnuts and grapes with mixed salad greens or lettuce. Add pine nuts, parsley, and the cheese.
Dress the salad with olive oil and lemon juice. Season to taste. Serve cold.

Posted by SteviMoshogianni | Permalink

Comments

Love the look and sound of this salad! I have to admit, I'm a big fan of Nigella's watermelon and feta and also blueberries and feta.

Posted by: Catherine Ross | August 09, 2006 at 01:02 AM

I like fresh baby spinach with fresh orange segments and walnuts and feta with a vinegrette made with orange juice. it's very good.

Posted by: JO | August 09, 2006 at 01:53 AM

I just made a salad the other day with orange segments and orange dressing, but I love pears and apples in salad as well. Here's the link the salad with oranges
http://urbandrivel.blogspot.com/2006/08/mesclun-mandarin-orange-almond-and.html

PS. I really enjoy your photography.

Posted by: Julie | August 09, 2006 at 09:32 PM

Hello. I've been lurking about your site for a while and enjoy your recipes and the presentation.
You do such a beautiful job that I want to try all your recipes.
Can you tell me what I can use in the States in place of the Haloumi cheese? Do you add mint to the cheese? Thanks,

Posted by: JoAnn | August 09, 2006 at 10:04 PM

Catherine
maybe it's just me, i think i like watermelons so much i don't want to taste anything else next to them.
But i haven't tried blueberries with feta, just with blue cheeses, but yes feta, why not?!

JO
it sounds great, yummy and fragrant!

Julie
i saw your salad, it is gorgeous.
thank you for reading.

JoAnn
people from Cyprus -where haloumi comes from- are going to hate me for saying this, but when i can't find it, i replace it with mozzarella. I don't add mint. i know you can find it with mint in supermarkets, people say it adds taste.
If you fry the cheese, because usually it is fried (it doesn't melt), you can add it afterwards.

Posted by: chloe | August 09, 2006 at 10:26 PM

Even your non-cookable foods look delicious...I like mandarine organes in salads, but you likely already know this.

Posted by: Cathy | August 10, 2006 at 02:37 AM

a-ha! my absolute favourite is your absolute worst huh? ;)

Posted by: fethiye | August 10, 2006 at 07:36 AM

I like oriental salads that have mandarin along with the greens and some sort of a sesame-soy dressing and fried wonton wrapper. Or also pear slices pan fried with some sugar and butter with arugula and bleu cheese. Or a classic Waldorf which has apples...

Thanks for answering the question on haloumi...I was wondering that as well :)

Posted by: joey | August 10, 2006 at 05:21 PM

Great! Thanks for the recipe... I will try it. I just have a questions: "How do you spell the name of the cheese? I have seen both halloumi and haloumi... which is the correct one?"
Thanks.
Ciao.

Posted by: Orchidea | August 10, 2006 at 07:54 PM

I will try your salad. I have mint in the back yard.
I tend to make salads with whatever I have around & mostly the results are good.
You are such a good photographer!
I hope the heat diminishes where you are. What would get me even more than the heat would be the air pollution, which seems to be everywhere in Europe now, much worse than when we lived there.

Posted by: Hattie | August 15, 2006 at 04:56 AM

This picture looks like a 'still life' painting. Gorgeous colours. I never used haloumi in a salad before. Not something you can get on every corner here in Holland.But I will bicycle a little bit further for it if it means I can make such an eye catching salad.

Posted by: Marieke | August 17, 2006 at 01:05 PM

Favorite vegetable and fruit combination? Good question. Celery pairs well with just about anything, but I guess my choice would be celery and pear or apple. The other day, however, I found what looked like mutant strawberry growing inside a green pepper, so I am working on that pairing. . .

Lovely photos, beautiful blog!

Posted by: Mimi | September 01, 2006 at 01:14 PM