Spiced cucumber salad with halloumi

We love cucumber in our house, in salads, dipped in hummus as an after school snack, chopped in yoghurt as a dip or just eaten on its own, the list is endless. Often thought of as a vegetable but actually a fruit, does it have any health benefits?

Cucumbers are low in calories but high in water so good for hydration and contain several important vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, K and magnesium. They are also high in antioxidants.

Ingredient

1 cucumber deseeded and finely chopped
1 or 2 green chilli, finely chopped
50g roasted peanuts – roughly chopped
30g fresh coconut grated
1 tablespoon fresh coriander chopped
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
4 spring onions sliced.
Juice of 1 fresh lime
2 tsp light brown sugar
1 tablespoon veg oil.
Pinch salt
½ tsp black or brown mustard seeds
¼ tsp cumin seeds or a couple of pods.
1 pack Halloumi

Method

Toast the peanuts by placing them on a baking tray and oven bake at 180c for 8-12 minutes until brown, keep an eye of them as they will burn quite quickly if left. Once cooled roughly chop.

Put the cucumber, chilli, coriander, mint, peanuts, spring onions and coconut in a bowl and mix. Use 1 or 2 chillis depending on your heat preference.

In a separate bowl mix the lime & sugar then stir into the cucumber mix.

Heat the vegetable oil in a small saucepan and add the mustard and cumin seeds for 30 seconds, the spices will start to pop.

Pour the warm oil and spices over the salad and mix through.

Slice a couple of pieces of halloumi per person and dry fry for about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve on top of the salad.

The cheese can be replaced with a piece of griddled chicken or salmon or the salad makes a great bbq accompaniment.  

Do add more chilli and spices if you prefer things a little hotter!

Kirsty Wilson Close

Instagram  kirsty_in_the_kitchen

Food Styling, Food Writing, Food Lover