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Halloumi with Balsamic Cherries and Lentils

This is another quick one which is a very handy starter or light meal, borne out of my purchase of the previously mentioned crate of cherries. It’s ready in less than 20 minutes and is just a little bit different. I used about 2/3 of a pack of halloumi for two light suppers but you could make a pack stretch to a starter for four. I just love halloumi – it’s so very tasty, moreish, fast to make and a pack can lurk in your fridge as a staple. In fact much of the ingredients below are store cupboard except for the fresh ones so it’s not a bad back up plan to have. I used the smoked garlic paste from Tesco and the chargrilled peppers were from a jar (Aldi) in the fridge. The puy lentils were of course my fav staple from Merchant Gourmet and the halloumi was from Tesco but widely available.

Ingredients to serve two as a light supper/starter

8-10 cherries, pitted and diced

2 tblsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp butter

1-2 tblsp oil

1-2 tblsp diced red onion

1/2 tsp smoked garlic paste

150g approx halloumi cheese sliced lengthways into six slices

1-2 slices of chargrilled peppers, drained and sliced

few leaves of thyme

1 pack of puy lentils

1-2 tblsp balsamic dressing (to taste)

some rocket leaves

 

Heat the butter in a medium sized pan. When melted, add the cherries and after a minute, the balsamic vinegar. Let it bubble down on a medium to low heat – keep your head away – the fumes are very unpleasant!!

Move the cherries around the pan, and don’t let them go entirely dry. Decant to a bowl and set aside for now.

Wipe out your pan and heat a tablespoon of the oil. Add the onion and smoked garlic paste and soften for a couple of minutes. Add the thyme leaves. Now add the pack of lentils and the peppers and heat through. Remove and keep warm.

Wipe pan (last time I promise – but you’ll only have one pan to wash!) Heat remaining oil in the pan and now fry the halloumi for 1-2 minutes each side on a medium heat. Now stir some dressing through the warm lentils to taste. Get your plates ready – it’ll all be ready fast – put some rocket down on the plate and spoon the lentils over. Place the halloumi on top and spoon the cherries and their juices over. Serve and enjoy.

 

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the dip to end all dips

 

I first came across warm dips when we were living in Toronto a number of years ago. There and then dips were, well, pedestrian. I, however, was transfixed! When going to parties and gatherings, people brought all variations of these DIPS. This is a version of my favourite. The warm artichoke dip. It has truly never met a carbohydrate it didn’t get along with, or a glass of wine for that matter. Serve it with any manner of breads, crackers, breadsticks, crudités and your favourite beverages. It certainly starts conversations! You can get tinned artichokes in brine (Epicure) in Supervalu, Avoca and Nolans in Clontarf. I haven’t tried it with the artichokes in oil – I’d imagine they’d be very oily. I’m now on the lookout for frozen artichokes…..!

 

Warm Artichoke Dip

1 tin of Artichokes in brine
1 cup (250ml) of mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 cup (250ml) of grated parmesan
black pepper to taste

Preheat your oven to 170C . Drain the tin of artichokes. Chop roughly and place in a bowl or a pyrex jug (I find the jug handy for the immersion blender). Add mayonnaise, garlic and some black pepper to taste. Blitz with a handheld immersion blender until reasonably smooth, but leaving some texture. Add most of the parmesan, retaining a couple of spoons for later.

Decant the dip into an oven proof dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.

Bake uncovered in the oven for 20 minutes, until the top is golden and bubbly. This will keep warm for a while no problem just as long as you can keep away from it. It’s very forgiving if the guests are late!

Serve with aforementioned delicious things to dip-in-the-dip!

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Goat Cheese Salad with Apples and Almonds

 

This is a super quick starter to make – it’s on the table in a matter of ten minutes and is super tasty. We had it on Friday with a cold glass of white – very welcome prelude to a tasty steak dish which I will post about later! There’s nothing like low effort high reward food at the end of the week and once you’ve a few bits in the fridge it all comes together very quickly. I used a small packet of goat cheese from M&S – the rind holds it together when it’s baking in the oven, it easily cut into three generous slices.

 

Ingredients (serves 2):

Goats cheese with rind, a small log sliced into 1 inch slices

2-3 tblsp of chopped almonds

1 egg, beaten

1/2 red onion, sliced into very fine rings

1/2 apple, either green or golden delicious, sliced into matchsticks

couple handful of lettuce leaves of your choice (I used red gem)

Dressing:

2 tblsp olive oil

1 tblsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tsp maple syrup

salt, pepper and snipped chives to serve

Set up your small baking tray, lined with a little foil or parchment and preheat oven to 170C. Whisk the egg in a small bowl. Place the chopped almonds on a small saucer and working from one side to the other dip each cheese slice firstly in the egg, then the nuts gently pressing them in to stick, then gently on the tray. Bake in the oven for 7 minutes approximately. Watch them closely. They will go from sturdy to melted in a nanosecond! Prepare the salad. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. (You can do this before the cheese goes in the oven if you like) Plate up the (washed!) leaves, onion and apple sticks. Drizzle the dressing over. Place the baked cheese on top and sprinkle the snipped chives to serve. Arrange to eat in the sunshine if you can!