Veggies | The Humble Onion

Lemony Lentil Salad with Roasted Veggies and Fried Halloumi Cheese

May 30, 2018

Let me tell you what led me to the discovery of my new favorite food: lentil salad with roasted veggies and fried cheese. What’s that? A salad with fried cheese on top? Health meets decadence? Virtue meets indulgence?

YES to all of this.

It started when I had exactly 5 minutes to run through the grocery store, with my whole family waiting out in the car, for a quick stop to ‘pick up a few things’ (have you ever been in that situation? My heart pounded thinking about what will happen if they go rogue on my husband). When I walked by the cheese case and saw Halloumi cheese, ‘great for grilling!’ I grabbed it to possibly throw on the grill with our other food without much thought because *rogue children*.

And then I forgot about it.

Days later when I found it in the cheese drawer, I googled recipes to use it up and found one that fried it with honey. I had to try it.

You’ll find out pretty quickly as you assemble this dish that every single ingredient is delicious on its own and you’ll have to stop yourself from eating it. Roasted broccoli and cauliflower? So good.

Lemony garlic lentils cooked with a bay leaf and vegetable stock? Love.

And the final touch that is really more of a religious experience then salad topping: fried Halloumi cheese that is tossed in honey at the end so it becomes caramelized.

If you haven’t cooked with Halloumi before, it is a Greek hard cheese that is sort of like a cross between Manchego and Feta. It is great for grilling, and these recipes by Bobby Flay and the NYTimes both look excellent.

But this recipe, which is adapted from one by Jamie Oliver, opens up a whole new world for me: frying your cheese and finishing it with honey. The sweet-salty bite is one of those tastes that make you want to keep coming back for another taste.

This dish composes so many elements – salty cheese, sweet honey, crunchy nuts, toothsome lentils, bitter roasted veggies, sour lemon and pungent garlic to make everything else sing. The dressing poured over the hot lentils infuses so much flavor.

Its truly like nothing I’ve ever eaten before.

It’s also a great dish to bring to a party, since you can cook all the different parts ahead of time, and set aside, then assemble all the ingredients before you go. Or just make it for yourself on a Monday night.

Hope you find a way to bring this into your life – you will thank me!

Lemony Lentil Salad with Roasted Veggies and Fried Halloumi Cheese (printer version here):

Ingredients:

4 cups broccoli and cauliflower (I used orange cauliflower)

olive oil

4 cloves of garlic

1 cup lentils

1 litre organic vegetable stock

1 fresh bay leaf

2 lemons

extra virgin olive oil

¼ cup walnuts or sliced almonds

1 large bunch of mixed soft herbs (parsley, mint, chervil)

250 g halloumi cheese (about a cup)

2 tablespoons runny honey

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.
Cut the broccoli and cauliflower into even-sized florets, then spread out in a single layer in a roasting tray. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt & black pepper.
Toss in the unpeeled cloves of garlic, then spread everything out in the tray and pop in the oven. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the veg is cooked through and charred on the outside.
Pop the lentils in a medium-sized pan, pour over the hot stock and add the bay leaf. Gently bring to the boil over a medium heat, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 25 to 30 minutes, or until they’re cooked but still retain some bite. Drain and set aside.
Make the dressing by squeezing the garlic out of its skin into a bowl. Mash until creamy, then squeeze in the lemon juice and season. Whisk to combine, then add a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil.
Toast the walnuts or almonds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Pick and chop the herb leaves, then toss with the walnuts and set aside.
Toss the hot lentils through the garlic dressing, followed by the roasted veggies, herbs and nuts.
Pour a lug of olive oil into a medium-sized, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat. Chop and fry the halloumi until it’s golden.
Drizzle over the honey and fry for 1 more minute, until sticky and caramelized. Scatter the halloumi over the salad and serve immediately.

Blood Orange Salad

June 1, 2017

This season you can find Blood Oranges in the grocery stores, and if you have ever wondered what to do with them (besides juice them and turn them into sangria or buy some of the packaged fizzy blood orange drinks and also turn them into sangria) this salad will help you out. They are segmented for the salad and used in the dressing, and their unique flavor just permeates this salad. But even if they weren’t in season I would still be craving them since I can’t seem to get enough fruit, especially citrus. (I may have eaten 2 of these salads in a row and then ate a grapefruit.)

They taste like sweet oranges, and have a gorgeous jewel color:

I love the combination of citrus fruit, goat cheese, (or blue or feta) crunchy nuts and vinegary dressing. So think of this as a template, and feel free to swap the blood orange for grapefruit or oranges, and use your favorite cheese and nuts. I used Marcona Almonds with Rosemary from Trader Joes, but I am guessing that ingredient is going to be pretty hard to find elsewhere. But I have to say, there rosemary was a really good note in this salad. So feel free to mix plain Marconas with some of this herb to eat alone or add to salad.

The dressing is really easy. Once you get the hang of making vinaigrettes, it suddenly feels so freeing and the possibilities seem endless. Basics are a 3:1 ratio oil to acid, but I actually prefer mine a little lighter and usually keep it 2:1. But the official stance on vinaigrettes is 3:1. If you want a little ‘tutorial’ I just found this post ‘7 Tips for Making the Perfect Vinaigrette’ that is really helpful, I highly recommend looking it over if you are curious about making your own salad dressing.

I used both blood orange and red wine vinegar here, Dijion, salt and pepper are a must, since you are usually trying to season a lot of veggies and salt brings out all the other flavors. And I found that often times when my vinaigrette needed something it was usually a little sweetness to counter-balance the acidity, and a little Agave syrup or sugar does the trick.

This is such a great first course to a dinner party, or to make a big salad for a party. But it is also great for lunch for 1 or 2, and I have kept the recipe to serve 2. Don’t wait for an invitation to make this – it is too good!

Happy Eating, xoxo Katie

Blood Orange Salad (printer version here):

Ingredients for Dressing:

Juice from 1 blood orange (2 T)

1 T red wine vinegar

1/2 teaspoon Dijon

1 tsp. agave syrup

S&P

1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Ingredients for 2 Salad Servings:

2 blood orange segmented

4 c. Mixed Greens

2 oz goat cheese

1/2 cup Marcona almonds

Directions:

Whisk all ingredients together for dressing, saving oil for the last. Stream oil in, whisking as it is added. Taste with a piece of lettuce to check for seasonings, adding more in needed.

Assemble salad with greens on the bottom. Add dressing just before serving.

Tomato and Zucchini Gratin

July 12, 2014

Got Veggies?

If you have a garden then chances are you will be overrun with these soon. But even if you don’t, finding these at the grocery store in the cheap and local and delicious section is about as easy as going into your back yard to pick them.

So the other night, when I wanted something warm in the sea of cold salads, I looked at my veggie bowl and pulled these out. I love anything made into a gratin (which just means it is cooked with breadcrumbs and cheese on top, usually parmesan), and realized it was exactly what I was craving – healthy comfort food. The results were delicious, proof that the simplest ingredients sometimes make the most delicious food.

This dish could not be any more simple.

These are the ingredients (I ended up not using the onion):

You can easily make this in one casserole dish, but sometimes individual servings are fun/an attempt to get kids to eat veggies (it worked!). I just sprayed my individual ramekins with cooking spray:

Then I diced one zucchini:

Two tomatoes (I tip I learned from Julia is to squeeze out all the seeds into the sink before you chop it for less water mess):

And one clove of garlic and…that’s it. Really. That’s all.

A little salt, pepper and a drizzle of Olive Oil, and then scoop them into your dishes. Sprinkle about a tablespoon of breadcrumbs and parm each on top:

And bake at 400 for 15 mins or until the cheese has browned slightly on top.

I can’t believe how fragrant and simple and delicious this was. If you cook it in one casserole dish, you may need to add a few minutes to the cooking time to make sure all the veggies are soft. And you can substitute these veggies with many others – summer squash, eggplant, mushrooms.

Enjoy!

xo Katie

Tomato and Zucchini Gratin (printer version here)

ingredients

2 large tomatoes, diced
1 large zucchini or summer squash, diced
1 large clove of garlic, minced
1/3 cup coarse fresh breadcrumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 Tablespoon butter, diced

preparation

Toss diced tomatoes and zucchini with garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and parm on top, and place pat of butter in center. Bake at 400°F until squash is tender and breadcrumbs are golden brown, 15-20 minutes.

New School Year Dinner

August 31, 2012

Hiya! Happy New School Year!

If you are a mom you know that brings the relief of structure, and the confines of it too. Like a well-oiled machine, our home and kitchens need to be set up to handle the daily grind that is around the corner. Maybe it is the life-long habit of new school clothes and supplies, but fall brings on the feeling of newness in every area. I love it. The past week has me organizing our mud room, our pantry, drawers and of course, closets, in anticipation of the busy early mornings and quick family dinners.

I have also found a ton of wisdom from other moms on various blogs. My new favorite site is Like Mother Like Daughter. This mom shares her lifetime of insights from feeding a family of nine. She makes biscuits out of a little left over squash, has posts like Make Dinner Every Night and Like It, and Make Menus, Really. She shined a light on the very loose meal planning I do, and suggests that families start by making a master list of meals they like, and when you meal plan, pull from that list.

I love this idea, and am going to make my families master list this weekend. I am inspired to add a few new ones to it and I hope you are too! This meal will DEFINITELY be on the list:

Pork Chops with Balsamic Honey Glaze, and Butternut Squash with Sage and Blue Cheese

I just made this last week when I found this easy recipe for butternut squash as a savory side (or a full meal if you are so inspired!). Literally, just chop and roast this gorgeous orange vegetable, add cheese and you have a silky, luxuriously rich vegetable at your table. And since it goes well with pork, I made boneless pork chops with Giada’s Agrodolche Glaze for pork chops. This glaze is heaven and is one of those flavor combinations that you keep remembering because it is so good!

For the Butternut Squash, start with these ingredients (the sage is from my herb garden!):

That’s it! So easy. In fact I got it from another food blog that titled it ‘Relaxing’. Find it here.

Roasted Butternut Squash with Sage and Gorgonzola
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 cups peeled, cubed butternut squash (about 1 lb)
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 leaves of sage, finely chopped
1/4 cup crumbled gorgonzola cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Method
Preheat oven to 400.
Toss butternut squash cubes with olive oil, sage, salt, and pepper. Roast squash for 20 minutes, or until tender. Sprinkle gorgonzola on top. The heat of the squash will melt gorgonzola. Serve.
While that was roasting away, I remade a version of pork chops that Giada De Laurentiis made a while back, and it is so good, I think I might make it again soon because I am hungry for it just thinking about it! I left out the red pepper flakes for my kids, but if you like a kick it is super good. This recipe is from the Food Network, and she called the glaze ‘agrodolce’, an Italian name meaning sweet and sour.

Pardon me while I geek out on you, but I was curious about this so I looked it up on Wikipedia. They write:

Agrodolce is a traditional sweet and sour sauce in Italian cuisine. Its name comes from “agro” (sour) and “dolce” (sweet). Agrodolce is made by reducing sour and sweet elements, traditionally vinegar and sugar. Sometimes, additional flavorings are added, such as wine, fruit, or evenchocolate. The sauce is thought to have been brought to Sicily by the Arabs. It can be high in fat, sodium, cholesterol and sugar, used for lamb, and served over rigatoni or wide noodles, such as pappardelle. Though the term “aigre-doux” could refer to any sweet and sour sauce in French cuisine, a gastrique is very similar to agrodolce.^[1]

If you want to find the Food Network link for easy printing you can find it here.

Pork:

1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra as needed
4 (8-ounce) boneless pork chops, about 1 1/2 inches thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Glaze:

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 scallions, pale green and white parts only, finely chopped
1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes, at room temperature
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Pork: In a large, heavy skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat. Season the pork chops with salt and pepper, to taste, and sprinkle with the red pepper flakes. Add the pork to the pan and cook until cooked through. for about 5 to 6 minutes on each side, or Remove the pork from the pan, cover loosely with foil, and set aside.

Glaze: In a small saucepan, bring the vinegar, honey, garlic, scallions, and rosemary to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the honey has dissolved. Simmer for 9 minutes, or until slightly reduced. Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the butter until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Arrange the pork chops on a platter and drizzle with the glaze.

Please comment and let me know your favorites on your families master list! I am forever curious about other mainstays in the life of busy families!