Grilled Halloumi Salad

Grilled Halloumi Salad with Peaches and Figs - A luxurious summer salad that is bursting with colours and flavours... but easy to make!

Originally posted August 27, 2020. Updated 2/16/2021

Ever since moving to Hamilton, we’ve been absolutely spoiled on the food front.

We live in Canada’s fruit belt, so there are cherry, peach, and apple orchards nearby, as well as vineyards... and who even KNOWS what else! We’re surrounded by all kinds of goodness.

Then, there’s the grocery stores. The Greater Toronto Area is incredibly ethnically diverse, which means a huge selection of everything - we’re constantly “discovering” new items to try out.

In our area, specifically, there’s a huge amount of Italian and Mediterranean culture, which also makes itself known when it comes to grocery stores and restaurants in the area.

Fresh Figs!

In the main - mainstream, chain! - grocery store we shop at, this means things like stacks of crates of figs. STACKS. OF. CRATES. I just remember having to drive 20 minutes to a co op in order to get figs in Minneapolis... and they’d have a few small packages.

As an aside, they even had fresh dates the last time we went! I’d only even seen those at one specialty Middle Eastern grocery, back in Minneapolis.

Grilled Halloumi

We also live fairly close to an Italian cheese shop, which is hazardous to our wallets. They have all kinds of great cheese - and imported food items - there, though.

One time, we bought a full kilo of goat cheese there, for something like $20!

On one hand, no one needs a full kilo of goat cheese. On the other hand, I highly recommend buying a kilo of goat cheese at some point, especially if you find a deal like THAT. Seems like a great "bucket list" item, to be honest.

Anyway.

They’ve sold bricks - BIG bricks - of Halloumi cheese for a while now, but recently they’ve been selling sliced halloumi.

“What is Halloumi?” you may ask...

Halloumi is a brined cheese, usually made from sheep or goat milk. It’s somewhere between a hard and a soft cheese, and kind of salty - think “giant brick of somewhat tart cheese curd”, and you have a bit of an idea.

Much like Paneer (Indian) or Juusto (Scandinavian), it doesn’t really melt in the same way that many cheeses do. Rather than getting gooey and liquifying, it just sort of softens a bit.

This unique property lends it to some fun possibilities, like slicing it up and frying it in a pan.

You can literally use slices of halloumi in place of bread and make an unholy grilled cheese-cheese sandwich - not that I’m talking from hedonistic experience or anything 😉

When you fry - or in the case of this recipe, grill - halloumi slices, they will brown and crisp up a bit, and get a little softer inside. They also get squeaky - like really fresh, good cheese curds - so they’re a joy to eat.

Anyway, yes - sliced halloumi. Obviously, we needed to get some to grill.

Grilled Halloumi Salad

I decided to build a salad around it - and it was right in the midst of my peach recipe development binge, so that gave me a starting point.

I couldn't resist the big, beautiful figs I'd been seeing in the grocery store, so those were the next to be added. Avocado for some colour, red onions for some bite ... the salad design was basically complete!

Of course, it needed a dressing to crown it all off.

I decided to go with a balsamic vinaigrette, to bring a burst of bright flavour, without weighing it down visually. I like my salads to be PRETTY when possible!

White Peach Balsamic Vinegar - that I've raved about before in my Balsamic Peach Bruschetta - was the obvious choice.

Oh, this was a great salad. So many great colours, flavours, and textures. It was summer in a bowl!

The halloumi was a fun protein to bring to the mix, and it made the salad more filling and satisfying than it would have been without big slabs of grilled cheese on it.

Now, on to that Grilled Halloumi Salad with Peaches and Figs recipe!

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5 from 1 vote

Grilled Halloumi with Peaches and Figs

Grilled Halloumi Salad with Peaches and Figs - A luxurious summer salad that is bursting with colours and flavours... but easy to make!

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time6 minutes mins

Total Time16 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Gluten-free, Vegetarian

Servings: 4 Servings

Calories: 581kcal

Author: Marie Porter

Ingredients

Dressing

• ¼ cup Olive oil
• ¼ cup White Peach Balsamic Vinegar
• 2 tablespoon Honey
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 Garlic cloves pressed or finely minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Salad

• 1 lb Halloumi cheese
• 2 ripe peaches
• 2 heads Butter lettuce
• ½ Red onion thinly sliced
• 4 Fresh figs
• 1 avocado

Instructions

• Heat your grill to a medium level heat.
• Whisk together dressing ingredients, season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
• Slice halloumi into ½" thick slices, pit and slice the peaches into thick slices, set aside.

Start assembling your salad:

• Divide the butter lettuce between 4 bowls, top with thinly sliced onions.
• I like to cut my figs into quarters at this point, so they're good to go

Grill:

• Spray your grill, the cheese slices, and the peaches with grill spray.
• Place everything on the hot grill, grill in place- without disturbing them - for 3 minutes. Flip everything, cook for another 3 minutes.

Finish assembling your salad:

• Pit and slice the avocado, arrange on top of the salad along with figs, halloumi, and peaches.
• Serve immediately, drizzled with the dressing.

Nutrition

Calories: 581kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 37g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Sodium: 1519mg | Potassium: 734mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 3121IU | Vitamin C: 15mg | Calcium: 1205mg | Iron: 2mg

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