This is one of my all-time favourite party dishes for potlucks; it’s tasty, light, and suitable for vegetarians/vegans. It’s also good for a quick and easy dinner after work, as it takes only about 20 minutes to prepare and assemble.
I love everything about halloumi – how it’s buttery, tasty, and mysteriously unable to melt when you apply direct heat to it. Sadly, halloumi has disappeared from supermarket shelves in Singapore recently. I used to be able to get it (Lemnos brand) from Carrefour and some Cold Storage outlets. In desperation, I recently bought frozen paneer from Mustafa, and it was a surprisingly good and cheaper substitute – it only cost me $3 compared to the $7 I used to shell out for halloumi. The only thing is that you need to salt it generously while grilling it (halloumi usually comes salty, I believe).
This salad is even better when it’s been sat in the fridge overnight and all the flavours has infused into all the ingredients. So don’t be afraid to make extra and take it to work for lunch the next day – it’s good warmed up after a quick high-power minute in a microwave, or chilled too!
Aaaaand here’s the recipe:
Couscous with Red Peppers and Halloumi (makes 3 portions)
1 cup couscous
1 large red pepper, sliced
1 large red onion, sliced
1 block halloumi or paneer (250gm), sliced into about 8 lengthwise strips
1 compact cup of coriander leaves
1 cup vegetable (or chicken) stock, boiling temperature
1/2 lemon
black pepper
1. Sear the red peppers, onion and halloumi strips in a hot grill pan,for about 8 minutes. Keep them separate. If you’re using paneer, add a generous amount of salt to the cheese when grilling.
2. While they’re cooking, put the couscous in a large salad bowl andpour the stock over it. Cover, let it sit for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork after that.
3. Toss the peppers, onion, halloumi and couscous with the coriander. Squeeze the 1/2 lemon over everything, add black pepper, and toss a bit more. And that’s it! Easy and delicious 🙂
yay she posts again! and i have the answer to why haloumi doesn’t melt when you heat it. i will post again when i dig up the relevant book. 🙂
Hello! I saw Halloumi at the fancy NTUC at Bukit Timah Plaza last week and thought of your salad. Great that you’ve found a substitute but if you need the real stuff at some point you could probably try there.
oddly, you’re right about the paneer/ halloumi thing. halloumi squeaks more when fried, but paneer is a curiously spot-on substitute 🙂
random cheese note: did you know south american/ ecuadorian queso looks, tastes and otherwise behaves exactly like paneer?
Hello! I suddenly remembered this post and found the answer to why haloumi behaves that way – it’s curdled with acid instead of rennet (the usual curdling agent in most other cheeses) which results in water being expelled when heat is applied instead of just breaking down the solid structure. ta-daa! all hail harold mcgee.
This looks really nice, and because I am cheap and love the feeling of scoring bargains at Mustafa, I may actually deliberately opt for the paneer over the haloumi.
Mustafa is selling haloumi again, no less than three different kinds now too.
Hello there,
i wonder if you might be interested in taking part in an event we are hosting at House, 8D Dempsey rd as part of our Adopt-An-Artist series #2: Amrita Bala, A Talent in the Baking…
It’s a quarterly initiative we do to support undiscovered talent.
“Get ready for the baking competition called The Big Bake Off! (it’s also a charity bake sale) on 4th May. The only criteria is that you bake a green ingredient and the winner walks away with fabulous prizes!
Not feeling competitive? Then donate some baked goods for the bake sale! Participants can pledge a portion or all of their sales to Club Rainbow, a charity for kids battling terminal illnesses.”
We love to support talent in the local baking/cooking community and hope to hear from you soon!
Here is my email address so that you may contact me if you are interested.
weifen@dempseyhouse.com
im making this in d&t boooooooooooooooooooooooooom
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation 🙂 Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Cheddar!!
i loved yr simple approach to this salad
i was craving something like this
and in the south african heat this is perfect as a midweek dinner
many thanks!
I made this tonight! It was yummy.
I discovered halloumi a few years ago as I moved to Cyprus, never heard of it before. But straight away I fell in love with that delicious cheese that is so versatile and gives its special note to so many dishes. Very often we try new halloumi recipes and there is not one week since then, that we won’t have at least one meal with halloumi, not to speak about BBQs, where having halloumi is a must.
Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe and giving me some new ideas.
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