I like working meatless meals into my regular rotation and otherwise favoring meals that use animal protein as a smaller part of the plate rather than large chunks of meat. Now, that's not to say I don't periodically invite a steak to my plate or grill a whole chicken, but my day to day eating habits tend to involve much smaller quantities of animal protein than they did, say, five years ago. And often, they are simply entirely vegetarian offerings. So I thought I'd share a couple of my favorites this week in a focus on vegetarian eating. We begin with a versatile grilled meal featuring fresh and grilled vegetables plus haloumi - a perfect grilling cheese - all tossed with a great marinade/dressing.
The mix of vegetables can be easily tweaked. Opt for zucchini instead of pattypan squash. Use peppers instead of golden beets. Swap cauliflower for eggplant. Skip the halloumi entirely to make it vegan. You get the idea. Make it yours and keep it harvest fresh.
Once made, you can scoop this mixture as a salad into bowls and serve it with tender rounds of pita, serve it atop your favorite rice or pasta blend, tuck it into a sandwich or a wrap, or even make it a stunning topping for an early fall pizza - it's great on flatbread and deep dish varieties alike. However you choose to enjoy it, congratulate yourself on making such a great meal that can take on so many forms. Heck, you might even consider splitting the recipe in half and enjoying it more than one way too!
Grilled Halloumi & Veggie Salad/Wraps
- 1 small head cauliflower, trimmed and cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1 large pattypan squash, trimmed and sliced into bite-sized pieces
- 3-4 small/medium golden beets, trimmed and cut into small chunks
- 3-4 garlic scapes, full green onions, or whole garlic cloves
- ½ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- 2-3 teaspoons seasoned salt - I used Kinder's Woodfired Garlic seasoning
- 6 ounces halloumi
- 8 ounces cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 handful fresh basil, torn
Combine the first 7 ingredients (cauliflower through seasoned salt) in a large bowl; toss to coat.
Heat a grill with a grill plate on it to medium-high heat. After it reaches temperature, toss the vegetables in the bowl one more time and arrange them on the plate to grill. Cover and turn after 5 minutes. Continue grilling until all of the vegetables are tender and done to your liking. They may not all be ready at the same time, so check them each time you turn them and remove any that are finished back to the bowl that you used to season them (no need to wash the bowl in the meantime - excess marinade is doing its job twice in this recipe).
When all of the vegetables are off the grill, add the halloumi. Grill for 3-4 minutes per side. While that grills, add the tomatoes and basil to the grilled vegetables and toss them to combine and coat with excess marinade/dressing. When the cheese is done, slice it into chunks and add that to the bowl as well. Toss again. Serve as is for a main dish salad or tuck into sandwiches or wraps or use the mixture as a topping for a pizza.
- Yields: 8 servings
- Preparation Time: 45 minutes