Vegetarian mains
Roast veg souvlaki with chopped salad, yoghurt and pitta
Souvlaki are a traditional Greek fast food. Simple skewers of meat, fish or veg are grilled or barbequed and slid into warm pittas with salad and yoghurt. Part-roasting the veg first means it cooks in the same time as the halloumi on the skewers, avoiding undercooked veg or cremated cheese.
Cook's notes
If you are a fan of pungent raw garlic then feel free to add the whole clove to the yoghurt.
Ingredients
- 4 bamboo skewers
- 50g salad leaves
- 15g mint
- 1 courgette
- 1 red pepper
- 1 red onion
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 lemon
- olive oil
- 1 pack halloumi cheese
- 1 fennel bulb
- 2 tomatoes
- 40g green olives
- ½ garlic clove
- 100ml yoghurt
- 4 pitta breads
- salt and pepper
Method
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Step 1
Preheat oven on to 200°C/Gas Mark 6. Place the bamboo skewers in a container of cold water to soak. Wash the salad leaves and mint. Shake, spin or pat them dry. Strip the mint leaves from their stalks and finely chop them.
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Step 2
Wash the courgette and slice lengthways in half. Cut each half into 6 chunky pieces. Halve and deseed the red pepper. Cut each half into 6 pieces. Halve and skin the red onion. Cut each half into 4 even-sized wedges. Place the courgette, pepper and onion into a roasting tray.
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Step 3
Add the dried oregano, chilli and juice from half the lemon. Coat well in oil and season with salt and pepper. Mix together and place in the oven to roast for 12 minutes. While the vegetables roast, cut the halloumi into 12 even-sized cubes.
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Step 4
Trim the fennel bulb of any tough stalks or tired looking outer layers. Cut lengthways in half and cut out the tough root core with a V-shaped cut. Chop the fennel into a rough even dice. Wash and roughly dice the tomatoes. Chop the olives into quarter's.
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Step 5
Peel and finely chop or crush 1 garlic clove. Mix half the garlic into the yoghurt with half the chopped mint. Season with a pinch of salt.
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Step 6
Remove the veg from the oven. It should be partially cooked but still firm. Turn on your grill to a medium-high heat. Thread the roasted veg and halloumi onto the skewers. Make sure there's an even mix of ingredients across the skewers. Turn the veg skewers in the oil and herbs that remain in the roasting tin. Place them on a grill tray. Grill for 8-10 minutes, turning often so they colour on all sides.
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Step 7
While the skewers cook, roughly chop the salad leaves. Mix with the fennel, tomatoes, olives and remaining mint. Dress with a squeeze of lemon juice, a dash of olive oil and a little salt and pepper to taste. When the skewers are done, remove them from the grill. Slide the pittas under the grill.
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Step 8
Toast until lightly coloured, about 1 minute per side. Cut the pittas open into pockets. Pack each one with some chopped salad and a good blob of yoghurt. Slide the veg and halloumi off the skewers and into the pittas, one skewer per pitta. Serve with the remaining salad and yoghurt on the side.