Halloumi is a versatile semi-hard white cheese that has been prominent in Middle Eastern and Greek cooking for generations and with good reason — it can be seared, grilled, or even broiled. It gives a dish that salty punch that is sometimes needed to elevate the other players in a salad. As for the beets, always roast them (never boil!) and glaze them in a little bit of reduced orange juice for flavor and shine together with a little residual red juice to drizzle on the plate for a beautiful finish.
Cooking
½ pound red beets
½ pound yellow beets
½ cup orange juice
1 cup baby arugula
¼ cup basic lemon vinaigrette (below)
Salt and pepper, for seasoning
4 slices country bread
2 tablespoon olive oil, divided
2 tablespoon pistachios, finely chopped
4 ounces halloumi, sliced
Lemon vinaigrette
¾ cup (175 mL) olive oil
Juice of 2 medium lemons (1/3 cup or 75 mL)
1½ tablespoons (22 mL) honey
1 tablespoon (15 mL) Dijon mustard
¾ teaspoon (4 mL) salt
In a large bowl, combine the oil, lemon juice, honey, mustard and salt. Whisk well together, then transfer to a squeeze bottle or covered jar. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week. Makes 1¼ cups of dressing.
Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Wrap the red beets together tightly in aluminum foil and then do the same with the yellow beets in a separate foil wrapping. Roast in the oven for 1½ to 2 hours until tender. Peel the beets while still warm, then chop them into 1½-inch pieces. Leave the oven on.
Place the red beets in a large pot over medium-high heat along with the orange juice, and reduce for 2 to 3 minutes until the consistency is syrupy. Note that we’re only reducing the red beets in the orange juice here — adding the yellow beets will sacrifice their contrasting colour.
Toss the yellow beets and arugula in the vinaigrette until evenly coated and season with salt and pepper to taste (use sparingly, the halloumi is quite salty).
Drizzle the bread with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and toast in the hot oven for 5 to 8 minutes until golden and crispy.
Heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a nonstick skillet on medium heat. Place the slices of halloumi in the hot pan and sear for 1 to 2 minutes per side, until golden brown. Place slices of halloumi on each plate and surround with the beets and arugula. Top with chopped pistachios and crispy bread, and drizzle the remaining orange juice reduction around each plate.
Excerpted from Eat, Habibi, Eat! Fresh Recipes for Modern Egyptian Cooking by Shahir Massoud Copyright © 2021 Shahir Massoud. Photography by Kyla Zanardi. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
