This Monday, I got to attend the Edible Startup Summit.
It’s part of a larger festival/conference here in Madison called Forward Fest, which brings together entrepreneurs from all different industries to hang out, share cool stories, and connect with new people. These types of events are always energizing for me, because this city is full of so many brilliant people working on unique projects and sharing their stories.
Edible Startup Summit reinforced for me why I love the food world so much and what my focus should be for Things I Made Today as I move forward: supporting good, local makers and producers and giving my readers the off-the-beaten-path recipes that can be made with their products. With a healthy dose of ridiculous stories about Jason and I thrown in there, for good measure.
This dish so represents what I want this blog to be about. It’s as seasonal as can be but gives you something you might not eat every day: halloumi cheese. Halloumi is a popular Greek cheese that is unbrined and holds up well to grilling or frying. Most people know it well in the form of saganaki, which I served up a lot of back in high school when I worked at a Greek diner in the suburbs of Chicago.
If you still don’t know what I’m talking about, it’s the cheese that the waitress pours brandy on top of and then says “Ooopah!” and everyone at the table smiles and cheers. It’s all fun and games until you burn off half your arm hair. I will not share details.
Anyways, you don’t need to play with large flames to enjoy halloumi. In this recipe, you’ll quickly pan fry a bunch of the vegetables, mix them with some fresh ingredients (tomatoes, olives, and my favorite, capers) and then top it all with herbs and fried cheese. Serve with some pita bread, and, to quote Jason, “this is what summer dinner should be like every day.”
- 6-8 cherry tomatoes, quartered
- ½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- ¼ cup capers
- 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 4 large red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, seeded and cut lengthwise into ½ inch strips
- 2-3 medium carrots, sliced in half lengthwise and then cut into 2 inch pieces
- 2 cups arugula
- 8 oz halloumi cheese, cut into 8 pieces
- 1 tablespoon mint, chopped
- 1 tablespoon cilantro, chopped
- freshly ground pepper
- pita bread to serve
- In a large bowl, combine tomatoes, olives, garlic, capers and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Set aside.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add peppers and carrots and cook until they start to soften. Stir in arugula cook until just slightly wilted. Transfer vegetables to bowl with tomatoes.
- Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in skillet. Add halloumi and fry until slightly browned, about 2 minutes per side.
- Add cheese to vegetables and top with mint, cilantro, and freshly ground black pepper to taste. Serve with warm pita bread
Recipe adapted from Vegetable Literacy.
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writes Two Year Blog Anniversary and My Best Of Choices - Things I Made TodayTomato Haloumi salad
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook: 5 minutes
Makes: 2 servings
12 ounces fresh ripe tomatoes — a mix of colors and sizes is appealing
writes greenklauslerKosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Olive oil
Vinegar
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried mustard
1 egg
1/3 cup water
8 ounces halloumi cheese, cut into 3/4-inch cubes
Flatbread
1. Slice: Slice tomatoes for the salad. No need for uniformity. Big tomatoes are nice sliced into circles or semicircles. Little ones might be best halved on the diagonal. Medium ones, quarter. Heap in a serving bowl.
2. Dress: Sprinkle tomatoes very lightly with salt (halloumi tends to be salty) and generously with pepper. Drizzle on a little oil and vinegar. Toss. Sprinkle on mint, and toss again.
3. Mix: Whisk together flour, oregano, red pepper and mustard. Separately, whisk together egg and water, then whisk into flour mixture. Drop in halloumi and toss to coat.
4. Fry: Slick a large skillet with olive oil, about 1/4-inch deep. Heat over medium. When hot, pull cheese cubes out of the batter and sizzle in the hot skillet. Fry, turning one or twice, until soft inside and golden brown outside, about 5 minutes total. Drain on paper towels. Grind on some pepper.
5. Serve: Toss halloumi cubes into salad. Scoop onto plates, and enjoy with flatbread.
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writes 3molecules