Halloumi and vegetable skewers
We feeling incredibly lucky without weather over the last week or so!
Mid June which is my birthday week is always the time of strawberries, asparagus, fennel and other fresh flavours, but it’s also a time when we want lighter food because of the heat and if possible we want to barbecue.
I first ate halloumi when I was about 10, and a friend of my father’s brought some back from Greece, nowadays you can buy it in every single supermarket and halloumi has been become very much part of the British diet, I used to love it but unfortunately nowadays I can’t tolerate any dairy products, if you’re like me and can’t eat dairy products there are some good versions of vegan halloumi
Sometimes when it’s very hot, meat is too heavy today’s recipe for halloumi and vegetable skewers, can cook cooked on the barbecue but easily you can do it at home in your oven if you don’t feel like barbecuing. Served alongside a crispy salad, topped with strawberries instead of tomatoes, or a side of asparagus, with freshly made flatbread will convert this into a meal to share with friends.
And if you really want to go the whole hog, and be typically British drink Pimm’s or a gin and tonic eating alfresco and enjoying the summer.
Ingredients
225 g of halloumi cheese cut into approximately 16 squares
8 to 10 back mushrooms
One red pepper cut into 16 pieces
One courgette cut into eight chunky rounds
One red onion cut into eight wedges
Eight cloves of garlic
One teaspoon of dried basil or oregano or thyme choose the herb you prefer
Half a teaspoon of sea salt half a teaspoon of black pepper
One lemon cut into wedges
A spray or two of spray cooking oil or if you don’t have that approximately half a teaspoon of extra-virgin olive oil
Method
If you’re using a barbecue, heat the barbecue and wait till the coals
Go white before putting any food on them
If you’re using the oven, preheat your oven to 200°C if it’s a fan oven 180°C gas mark six
Taking your skewers, this makes 4 skewers thread the vegetables into mixed with a halloumi mixed with the garlic and the onion so that nicely mixed. Season with the salt and pepper and herbs.
If you are barbecuing them when the barbecue is hot enough place the skewers on the barbecue and turn them after about five minutes then turn them again on a barbecue. These will take between 10 to 14 minutes depending on the size of your vegetables and the heat of your barbecue.
If you’re cooking these in the oven place the skewers on a baking tray spray them with oil and season with the salt and pepper and herbs place in the oven and after about six or seven minutes turn them over and cook them for another six or seven minutes.
You will know when these are cooked when the vegetables are slightly chard, but still a little al dente, and the cheese should be well browned
Before you serve them, let them call a little bit or else you can burn your mouth on the cheese which retains its heat longer than the vegetables!