Salads have a reputation for being bland and boring. This is not how it should be because, in reality, they can be juicy, crispy, vibrant, and delicious – very far from boring. This bright watermelon salad here is a perfect example of an exciting salad.
It is juicy and sweet from the watermelon, crunchy from the toasted pumpkin seeds, zingy from the lightly marinated red onions, and has enough substance to stand out as a main meal from the halloumi. In fact, I would never serve this salad as a side dish; it is way too perfect for giving it a supporting role instead of being a hero on its own. In case you wish to keep the salad fully vegan, feel free to swap out the halloumi to firm tofu, the dish might need a little more salt in this case, because tofu tends to be bland compared to salty halloumi.
Watermelon Salad with Basil and Halloumi
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients:
A handful of pumpkin seeds
7 oz halloumi cheese
¼ of a smaller watermelon
½ red onion
1 small cucumber
5-6 radishes
A handful of fresh basil leaves
The juice from ½ lemon
1 tbsb balsamic vinegar
3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions:
Heat the pan and toast the pumpkin seeds until they start popping. Set aside to cool.
Slice the halloumi to 1cm thick slices. Add a drop of oil to the pan and fry the halloumi slices until they are crispy.
While the seeds are toasting and the halloumi frying, prepare everything else – slice the onion as thinly as possible, squeeze a little lemon juice over it and sprinkle with salt – give it a quick massage and set aside.
Slice the cucumber and radishes, cut the watermelon to bite-sized junks. Pick the leaves from basil.
Add all the salad components to a big bowl, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and gently toss.
Finally, top with crispy halloumi slices, and you are ready to eat!
By Kadri Raig
Kadri is a food blogger and yoga teacher from Estonia. She does love to spend time in the kitchen, but most of her recipes are simple and don’t take more than 20 minutes of active cooking time. She thinks that everybody can find time to cook healthy food at home, it is just a question of planning. "I work in an office full time, teach yoga 7-8 hours a week and write a blog. So if I manage to cook most of my meals, then so do you!" Connect with Kadri and enjoy many more of her delicious healthy recipes on her website here: www.kahvliga.ee.
Try this free meditation class before your delicious salad!
Meditation: Release Reactivity with Geenie Celento