Warm and Crispy Cubes of Cheese Top a Salad of Summer Fruits.
Here I am again with another summer salad using the glorious fruits of the season. But this time, fried halloumi was added to the mix and it brought a beautiful salty, crispy, funkiness to the table that I love.
The really good plums are now showing up and I thought they’d pair well with cubes of watermelon. I used a mixture of black and red plums and their sweet/tart crispiness played really well with the refreshing sweet watermelon.
I had them all sliced and placed on the platter before quickly pan frying the slices of halloumi in a little olive oil. If you’ve ever eaten warm halloumi, you know it must be eaten almost immediately after it comes out of the pan. When it’s warm it is nice and soft, but if it cools, it firms up.
As for the dressing, I recently purchased a vinegar that is new to me – Sonoma Gold Almost Vinegar. It’s made with apricots and is sweet. It is so full flavored, the only additions needed were a little bit of white vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. You can easily substitute other vinegars, such as calamansi, or even pomegranate molasses would work well here.
As you can see, I sprinkled everything with plenty of nigella seeds. I think they’re perfect here. Their oniony smoky flavor is a perfect addition to the sweet and salty mix.
As we were serving ourselves from the platter, I realized I had forgotten to add the toasted pine nuts. I added them to the salad on our plates and even though they’re not in the photo, I highly recommend you use them. They add a nice buttery crunch to the salad.
Well, that’s it for now, but I can guarantee I’ll have more salads coming your way. As I’ve said, these kinds of salads, served with a simple grilled or roasted meat, poultry, or fish are how I love to both eat and cook. Easy to make and exciting to eat. That’s my motto. 😊
Plum and Watermelon Salad with Fried Halloumi
4
servingsA Salad of Slices of Red and Black Plums, Watermelon Cubes, and Fried Halloumi with Nigella Seeds and Pine Nuts.
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Ingredients
1 1/2 tablespoons Sonomic Gold Almost vinegar
1 teaspoon white vinegar
3 tablespoons EVOO
Big pinch of sea salt
Several grinds of black pepper
2 red plums, sliced into 1/2 inch wedges
2 black plums, sliced into 1/2 inch wedges
2 cups watermelon cubes
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley leaves
2 teaspoons nigella seeds
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
8.8 ounce block of halloumi, sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
Directions
- Whisk together first 5 ingredients and set aside
- Layer the plums, watermelon and parsley leaves on a platter. Sprinkle with a little salt and the nigella seeds.
- Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a non-stick skillet. Add the halloumi and cook for about 2 minutes on each side, until it’s golden brown. Remove from the heat and place on the platter of fruit. Drizzle the dressing over everything, scatter on the pine nuts and serve immediately. Enjoy!
