Vegetarian mains
Beetroot couscous and chilli mint halloumi
A gorgeous summer salad, topped with a favourite ingredient - halloumi. It's always so popular when we include it in our recipe boxes. If you have some, using cooked beetroot makes a big difference here, really speeding things up.
Ingredients
- 1 lemon
- 150g halloumi cheese
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes - add to taste
- 100g couscous
- Salt and pepper
- 15g mint
- 15g parsley
- ½ tin chickpeas
- 125g cherry tomatoes
- 250g pack cooked beetroot
- 50g watercress
Method
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Step 1
Finely zest ½ the lemon. Slice the halloumi into 1-1½cm slices. In a shallow bowl, mix 3 tbsp of olive oil, the lemon zest and chilli flakes, to your taste for heat (if you're unsure, add a pinch now, then sprinkle over more at the end). Turn the halloumi in the mixture and set aside.
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Step 2
Boil a kettle. Put the couscous in a large bowl. Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and a good pinch of salt. Pour over plenty of boiled water to cover the couscous by 1cm. Cover with a plate. Set aside to soak for 10 mins.
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Step 3
Keeping them separate, finely chop the mint and parsley.
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Step 4
Drain the tin of chickpeas. You just need ½ in this recipe. Roughly chop the ½ tin you're using. Keep the rest the fridge for other meals.
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Step 5
Quarter the cherry tomatoes. Drain the beetroot. Chop it into 1-2cm chunks.
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Step 6
Heat a non-stick frying pan to a medium heat. Lift the halloumi out of its oil. Fry the halloumi, without moving it around, for approx. 2 mins, until starting to colour. Then turn it and fry for 1-2 mins (keep a good eye on it, you don't want it to melt). Transfer to a plate for a moment.
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Step 7
Fluff the couscous up with a fork. Mix in the chopped chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, parsley and ½ the mint. Season and add lemon juice to taste, and add a little more olive oil too, if you like.
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Step 8
Gently mix in the watercress and finally, the beetroot (very lightly, so it doesn't turn it all too pink!). Serve topped with halloumi, drizzled with any remaining chilli and lemon oil from its dish, and sprinkled with remaining mint.