Friday 9 February 2018

Baked halloumi with corn coating

vegetarian recipe, baked cheese


I've mentioned before that my husband decided to go meat-free. It's not the latest whim, he has been opting for vegetarian dishes when we go out, or when he has a high table at college for the last few years. While I respect his choices, the rest of the family so far are omnivores or flexitarians.
I find it more challenging to cook purely vegetarian dishes, as I think you need to be more creative to cook a balanced meal. Of course, we eat plenty of vegetable soups and salads, but beyond that, I'm a bit stuck (says she, who has two hundred cook books at her disposal).

There was a packet of Colombian Crunchy Chicken Bites seasoned corn coating from Santa Maria Latin American Kitchen range in the latest Degustabox. It's a mild spice blend of flakes of corn, rice flour, salt, spices and herbs (onion powder, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper), yeast extract and paprika extract. It is bright orange in colour and smells lovely.

Since the chicken bites wouldn't have been welcome by everyone, I was wondering if I could use this blend in a vegetarian dish, and whether it would work with cheese, like halloumi.
I bought a pack of Waitrose Cypriot halloumi. This is not exactly a recipe more of an idea or a suggestion on what to do with the corn coating pack if you don't eat meat.

vegetarian recipes, baked cheese


Baked halloumi with corn coating
Ingredients:
1 pack of Waitrose Cypriot Halloumi (250g) with dried mint
1 pack of Colombian Crunchy Chicken Bites seasoned corn coating
a handful of baby tomatoes
to serve with a selection of steamed vegetables (baby potatoes, baby brussels sprouts and snap peas)

Slice halloumi into thick slices. Coat evenly with seasoned corn coating on both sides. Place the slices into slightly oiled baking dish. Scatter a few baby tomatoes. Bake in the oven at 180C for about 20 minutes. Serve hot with a selection of vegetables.

vegetarian meals


Steamed potatoes are mildly sweet and work well with the salty baked cheese. It was a lovely combination of textures and flavours. I would cook it again, perhaps with a different brand of halloumi cheese, the one I used was from Essential range and is way too salty.

P.S. Just wanted to add that I have nothing against Waitrose Essential range, in fact we buy quite a few foods from it, but the halloumi cheese is not their best product.

vegetarian meals

4 comments:

  1. That's a great idea for using the crispy coating - funnily enough, I cooked halloumi last night. Great minds think alike !

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    Replies
    1. I often feel we're blogging twins. :) How did you cook yours?

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  2. I have yet to try halloumi, I keep hearing about it but have never used it. This looks nice

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    Replies
    1. It is very salty, not sure if it's supposed to be that salty, or whether this is because I bought a cheaper supermarket own product.

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