Guest Post: Halloumi Stacks with Mushrooms by The Online Grill
We have a guest in the kitchen! We’re thrilled to welcome Ben of The Online Grill who’s sharing a wonderfully healthy and delicious meal idea.
Hi! My name’s Ben and I cycle. I cycle a lot. And I guess that this means I eat a lot too. I thought I’d turn my love of food into something useful by writing over at The Online Grill. Since starting the blog I’ve learned so much about food and nutrition, and grown my cooking repertoire hugely.
I’ve always had problems with iron deficiencies, and since discovering the iron-rich health benefits of mushrooms I’ve never looked back. The versatility of it means I can throw it in liberally with almost any meal which, thanks to my Italian heritage, I do… a lot.
Halloumi stacks is a fantastically simple recipe that goes down a treat in the summer months. Its light vegetables match perfectly with the salty flavors of the halloumi to give a sensationally addictive taste. In fact, I have to be strict on myself and use a very finite amount of cheese as I often just can’t get enough of these!
Perfect as an appetizer, or a very light brunch meal, this dish is brilliant as a template. If you don’t have one ingredient, then it’s easy to substitute it with another. It’s open to interpretation and that’s what I love about it!
Halloumi Stacks with Mushrooms
Ingredients
250g halloumi cheese
1 zucchini/courgette
6 white button mushrooms
2 large tomatoes
Method
1. A lot of Mediterranean dishes feature a heavy use of olive oil, and you’ll find most interpretations of this one are no different. However, to help it feel relatively light I’ve decided to skip this. I find that the salt and moisture from the tomatoes and halloumi do wonders at packing in a lot of flavor, however if you do want to brush your vegetables in oil prior to grilling them then go for it!
2. If you don’t have a griddle pan then one way around it is to preheat your oven grill with the grill bars in to help give you those lovely seared grill marks in the tomatoes and zucchinis.
3. Start heating up your pan to a medium-high heat, or if you’re using your oven then preheat it to 180C/350F/gas 4.
4. While your oven is preheating, cut your tomatoes horizontally, zucchinis diagonally, and mushrooms vertically (got that?) into thick slices.
5. Add the zucchini to the pan and season with salt and black pepper. Griddle for a couple of minutes on each side, and really try to work in those beautiful sear marks!
6. Remove the zucchini and now add the tomato, repeating the process but for nearer one minute on each side instead of two. Repeat again, but this time with the mushrooms.
7. Now for the fun part! Heat up a frying pan to a medium-high heat, and throw in the halloumi. Turn every minute until both sides have browned then remove.
8. Now time to stack these bad boys! This part is wildly open to artistic license, so order as you wish, but I organize mine as: Tomato at the bottom, then zucchini, mushroom, and the beautifully browned halloumi at the top.
9. Drizzle a little balsamic vinegar on top, and you’re done!
If you like this recipe, you might also enjoy:
• Portabello and Halloumi Burgers by Fuss Free Cooking
• Chicken and Mushroom Spring Rolls by The Online Grill
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These stacks are a great way to use up the last of your garden produce! A huge thanks to Ben for joining us in our kitchen with such a drool-worthy and nutritious dish.
Make sure you follow along with Ben’s blog The Online Grill and on Facebook and Twitter.
