Fried Halloumi with Minted Cous Cous

This week I am wholeheartedly and gratefully embracing the warm sunny weather we’ve been having after a looooooooong refreshing and bracing spring. I can start work on my tan which currently can only be compared to a Farrow & Ball white paint chart where I am bordering the ‘Wimborne White’ with an aim of becoming more in keeping with a natural shade of ‘Cat’s Paw’. I love the excuse to bring out all the flavourful salads I crave which just don’t meet the winter demands….

Minty Cous Cous Salad (adapted from ‘What Katie Ate’)

  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 100g giant cous cous
  • 200g cous cous
  • 100g pumpkin seeds
  • 60g pine nuts
  • 100g flaked and/or whole almonds
  • 2 courgettes, peeled into ribbons or sliced thinly with a mandolin
  • 4 spring onions, chopped
  • A generous handful of chopped mint, basil, parsley and coriander or a mixture of these herbs you prefer chopped finely
  • Light vegetable stock
  • Handful of rocket, watercress or leaves
  • 1 lime
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Halloumi to serve
  1. Heat a splash of oil in a pan and add the cumin to fry for a minute. Then add the giant cous cous and toast until fragrant for a few minutes.
  2. Add a good splash of stock to cover and cook the cous cous for about 15 minutes until soft. Drain.
  3. Toast the pumpkin seeds, pine nuts and flaked almonds in a dry pan until fragrant.
  4. Add another splash of oil to a hot frying/grill pan and add the courgette strips and char for a few minutes until crisp.
  5. Season the small grain cous cous and add a knob of butter. Pour over 300g of stock, cover and allow to absorb. Then using a fork, fluff up the grains.
  6. Now to assemble, combine the giant drained cous cous and the fluffed cous cous. Add the courgette ribbons, seeds and nuts, a generous handful of the herbs and the salad leaves
  7. Add a squeeze of lime and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to loosen and scatter with the spring onions.

This is delicious served with some fried halloumi and a minted lime yoghurt and flatbreads and a lovely addition to a BBQ.

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