Questions about Halloumi salad for xmas

[soulfulofsoul]

I'm going to make halloumi salad.

I was planning to use tomatoes, cucumber, rocket, red onion, avacado, capsicum and basil.

I have a few questons:
ime salads are aren't as good when you make them a few hours before. Something about mixing it all and leaving it in the fridge for a few hours makes it taste less fresh. So should I cut everything up in their own containers and then mix it when I get there? I might be imagining this though, salads might taste the same if made a few hours before (and that would be easier) so tell me if you think I'm wrong.

Should I leave the avacado and/or red onion out? Just not sure if these will go well with the rest, especially not together.

Should I put a bit of lime juice on my hallomi? Or balsamic on the rest of the salad instead? Would balsamic get into the halloumi and spoil it if I do?

Any other suggestions?

 

[moose]

How long has it got to survive?

As long as you don't dress the salad till just before you serve it, it should be ok. I'd use whole baby tomatoes and make sure the leaves are as dry as possible, to reduce the chance of it going soggy. The avocado will be brown and horrible if you cut it in advance, even if you put lemon juice on it, so I'd leave it out. The onion should be ok.

As for dressing, I'd mix balsamic and olive oil in a little bottle and take it to shake and pour just before you serve. It won't spoil the halloumi.

Are you cooking the halloumi?

 

[dessiato]

I found this recipe,

haloumi, fig and pomegranate salad

• ¼ cup (60ml) olive oil
• 250g haloumi, thinly sliced
• 1 cup mint leaves
• 100g rocket (arugula) leaves
• 8 green figs, halved
• 1 pomegranate, seeds and juice removed
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, extra

Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over high heat. Cook the haloumi for 2–3 minutes each side or until crispy. Place the haloumi, mint, rocket, figs, pomegranate seeds and juice in a bowl, drizzle with vinegar and oil and toss to combine. Serves 4.

Which could very easily and very quickly be made at the very last minute so there would be no need to keep it in the fridge, and it would be wonderfully fresh and tasty.

Otherwise, as moose said.

 

[moonsi til]

I had beer battered halloumi & chips last week which was lush.

 

[soulfulofsoul]

Thanks for the ideas but I've bought these ingredients now.

How long has it got to survive?

As long as you don't dress the salad till just before you serve it, it should be ok. I'd use whole baby tomatoes and make sure the leaves are as dry as possible, to reduce the chance of it going soggy. The avocado will be brown and horrible if you cut it in advance, even if you put lemon juice on it, so I'd leave it out. The onion should be ok.

As for dressing, I'd mix balsamic and olive oil in a little bottle and take it to shake and pour just before you serve. It won't spoil the halloumi.

Are you cooking the halloumi?

It only has to survive between 2-4 hours, not sure.

When you say it should be OK, do you mean it would be better made fresh? Since its xmas and not much more effort I'm happy to do that if it'll be better.

But I've just realised the fridge is very likely to be full.

 

[BlueSquareThing]

You could try and lightly pickle the red onion and, maybe, the cucumber to make it easier to prep in advance. Might be nice to have that anyway.

 

[moose]

Well it's always nicer very fresh in my opinion, but a couple of hours shouldn't do it any harm.

 

[lau1981]

I adore halloumi but some people find it a bit salty so maybe try to slice it thinner than you would other cheeses? That's the limit of my ability to give (usable) cooking tips!

 

[8115]

It would definitely be better freshly made. It was go limp/ sad tomatoes/ hard halloumi otherwise.

 

[stuff_it]

I'm going to make halloumi salad.

I was planning to use tomatoes, cucumber, rocket, red onion, avacado, capsicum and basil.

I have a few questons:
ime salads are aren't as good when you make them a few hours before. Something about mixing it all and leaving it in the fridge for a few hours makes it taste less fresh. So should I cut everything up in their own containers and then mix it when I get there? I might be imagining this though, salads might taste the same if made a few hours before (and that would be easier) so tell me if you think I'm wrong.

Should I leave the avacado and/or red onion out? Just not sure if these will go well with the rest, especially not together.

Should I put a bit of lime juice on my hallomi? Or balsamic on the rest of the salad instead? Would balsamic get into the halloumi and spoil it if I do?

Any other suggestions?

Take all the ingredients separately and make it there?

 

[mr steev]

I adore halloumi but some people find it a bit salty so maybe try to slice it thinner than you would other cheeses? That's the limit of my ability to give (usable) cooking tips!

I find it too salty, but that can be offset with the vinegar.
I agree about not having large pieces of it and if you are grilling or frying it make sure you don't overdo it. It's best when it is only slightly golden imo

 

[8115]

Even if you make the rest of the salad beforehand, you need to grill/ fry the halloumi straight before serving, otherwise don't bother grilling/ frying at all.

 

[soulfulofsoul]

This place is a fountain of halloumi advice. Thank you all

 

[moose]

I find it too salty

I slice it and rinse it, patting each piece dry before frying. Takes a lot of the salt away.

 

[mr steev]

I slice it and rinse it, patting each piece dry before frying. Takes a lot of the salt away.

I'll try that