The perfect vegetarian salad doesn't exi --. I heard someone in my nutrition class one time say how she's a vegetarian but feels like there are more vegan recipes readily available to her than vegetarian ones. She wants to eat eggs and dairy but doesn't know how to make herself bomb vegetarian meals. Well, guess what? That's what I'm here for. If you ever see this, queen, this for you and for all of my vegetarians out there. This is my delicious and Mediterranean inspired Halloumi Pomegranate & Mint Salad. It's a great salad to introduce in your diet because I mixed in foods I believe people don't have enough of - almonds, pomegranate, mint, and halloumi. Almonds are a good source of vitamin E and monounsaturated fat, so great for heart health. Pomegranate seeds are a good source of vitamin C and antioxidants. Mint is the natural healer of the Arab world, because it can be great for indigestion. Halloumi is a type of cheese that provides us with 25% of our daily value of calcium! All great components for our health. Did I mention it's also incredibly flavorful? Let's get to the recipe.
Yields: 1
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 20 minutes
This recipe is gluten free and vegetarian.
Ingredients:
1. 5 slices of Halloumi cheese
2. ½ cucumber sliced in halves
3. 2 TBSPs pomegranate seeds
4. 1 cup of tri-colored quinoa (you won't use it all but I make people make a cup to save the rest for another day)
5. 4 lettuce leaves chopped
6. Almond slices to garnish
7. Fresh mint to garnish
8. Extra virgin olive oil
9. ½ lemon
10. Salt
Instructions:
1. First, cook your quinoa for 10 minutes - grab a pot and fill it up with 2 cups of water. Add in the 1 cup of quinoa and salt well. Cook on medium-high heat until the quinoa soaks up all of the water.
2. As you wait for the quinoa, grab a frying pan. On high heat, wait until the pan heats up for 2 minutes or so, and then gently add in your 5 halloumi slices. You want to allow them to cook for 3 minutes or so on each side. You want them to be golden brown.
3. As you wait for your halloumi (and make sure to flip them), have your cucumber slices, pomegranate seeds, lettuce, and mint ready.
4. Let's put it all together: grab a serving bowl and add in the chopped lettuce, the cucumber slices, the pomegranate seeds, and ¼ cup of quinoa. Top with the halloumi slices, and garnish with almonds and mint.
5. For the dressing: mix the juice of ½ lemon and 2 ½ TBSPs of olive oil. Salt well. Mix and pour onto the salad.
