Indian Spiced Halloumi, Chickpea and Roasted Eggplant Salad

This Week

9 Dec - 15 Dec

Indian Spiced Halloumi, Chickpea and Roasted Eggplant Salad

Here’s a 30-minute vegetarian dinner you’ll want to make on repeat! Warm roasted eggplant salad served with curried halloumi, cashews and minted yoghurt.

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Meal Prep Guide

Roast ⅓ cup of cashews (store in an airtight container or jar in the pantry)

Make the yoghurt sauce (store in an airtight jar in the fridge)

1 small garlic clove (crushed)
1 lemon (juice)
⅓ cup greek yoghurt
⅓ cup fresh mint (finely chopped)
Pinch of salt and pepper

Add all the ingredients into a jar and mix well to combine.

Prepare the pickled onions if using.

Tips

Halloumi, when cooked, softens the rubbery (or “squeaky”) texture while also mellowing the saltiness, which is why it is best served straight out of the pan.
We layer the salad ingredients to ensure all the ingredients are well-distributed thought out the salad. If we were to add it all to a bowl and toss the salad, the heavier ingredients would drop to the bottom.

Shortcuts

Vegetables

Swap eggplant for roasted cauliflower or pumpkin.

Protein

For some added protein or to replace the chickpeas, serve with roasted chicken thighs. Rub chicken with a little crushed garlic, lemon zest, olive oil, salt and pepper; cook at the same time as the eggplant.

Other

Swap chickpeas for lentils.

Ingredients

2 eggplants (cut into rounds)
60g baby spinach (½ a bag)
60g mixed lettuce (½ a bag)
400g tin chickpeas (rinsed, drained and patted dry)
⅓ cup cashews (roasted and roughly chopped)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Optional pickled onions or finely sliced red onion

Yoghurt and mint sauce

1 small garlic clove (crushed)
1 lemon (juice)
⅓ cup greek yoghurt
⅓ cup fresh mint (finely chopped)
Pinch of salt and pepper

Curried halloumi

180g halloumi (cut into bite-sized cubes)
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp honey
Butter and/or olive oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees fan bake.
Add the eggplant to a baking tray and brush or drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and pepper; roast for 30 minutes or until golden brown, flipping halfway.
While the eggplant is cooking, prepare the yoghurt and mint sauce. Add all the ingredients into a small bowl and mix well to combine. Set aside until you are ready to serve.
Add the cubed halloumi to a bowl and dust over curry powder, set aside until you are ready to cook.
To assemble the salad, start by grabbing a large plate or platter. Add ½ the baby spinach, mixed lettuce, chickpeas, and roasted eggplant – then repeat. Set aside while you cook the halloumi.
Add a generous amount of butter and/or olive oil to a medium pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the halloumi and fry for 1 minute or until golden brown on each side. Add the honey, then stir to coat the halloumi in the melted honey.
Scatter halloumi on top of the salad, along with any of the honey butter mixture in the pan.
Top with roasted cashews, dollops of the yoghurt, mint sauce and pickled onions if using.

Variations

Vegetables

Swap eggplant for roasted cauliflower or pumpkin.

Protein

For some added protein or to replace the chickpeas, serve with roasted chicken thighs. Rub chicken with a little crushed garlic, lemon zest, olive oil, salt and pepper; cook at the same time as the eggplant.

Other