June 2002 - Chickpea Lemon & Herb salad with Tomatoes and grilled Haloumi

Wow, time has just flown by. It is almost half way through the year and I am racing towards half way through my collection of delicious. magazines. I have decided that this month I am going to try and choose mostly vegetarian meals. I cannot guarantee they will all be as when I went through the magazines there were a couple of meals that really grabbed my attention that were definitely not vegetarian. I do try to eat vegetarian meals regularly. While I do love most meat I also need a break at times.

The Spaghetti alla Genovese on the cover of issue #6 looked really nice however after just completing a month of Italian meals which included a number of pasta dishes it was time for something different. Plus being a pasta with potato it is a bit carb heavy and I wanted something nice and light.

There was also Seared green beans with potatoes, mushrooms and six-minute eggs that would have made a wonderful lunch time meal but I was without beans and wasn't going to venture out of the house on a wet and rainy day to get any.

My first trip through this issue I had marked the (non-vegetarian) Little Lancashire Hotpots which sounded really nice but I was really looking for something that would be easy to make for lunch. Something quick, light and simple yet filling. Nadine Abensur's Chickpea Lemon & Herb salad with Tomatoes and grilled Haloumi fit the bill perfectly. It was incredibly tasty. I replaced the coriander in the recipe with mint which I think worked really well. It would probably also be really nice with basil. However I have mint growing in a pot and the basil is finished for the year. My flat-leaf parsley has finished too so I used curly parsley. I had a few roma tomatoes that needed to be used up so I cut one into eighths and put them in the fry pan with the haloumi slices and lightly coloured each cut side. I just love haloumi. Unfortunately this one wasn't one of the best. It was a bit hard and didn't "squeak" like some of the better ones do, that will teach me for buying the cheap one. The recipe was so easy to reduce down for one, although I do have enough ingredients for a second one, which is going to be my lunch tomorrow.

Chickpea Lemon & Herb salad with Tomatoes and grilled Haloumi

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 x 400g canned chickpeas, drained
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp each chopped parsley and coriander (I used parsley & mint)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus a little more for basting the cheese
• 1 garlic clove, finely sliced
• a dash of tamari (I used light soy sauce)
  
• a dash of Tabasco
• 1 small red onion or shallot, very finely chopped (optional)
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 225g haloumi cheese
• 100g wild rocket (I used a salad mix)
• 100g oily, herbed black olives
• 24 pieces of slow-roasted tomato quarters or cherry tomatoes, halved

Method

• Combine chickpeas with the lemon juice, parsley, coriander, olive oil, garlic, tamari and Tabasco, onion and salt and pepper. Set aside to allow flavours to combine.
• Cut the haloumi into batons 5mm thick. Baste with a little olive oil (I used garlic olive oil) and fry in a pan over a medium heat until golden and warmed through.
• Divide rocket leaves between plates top with chickpea salad, tomato pieces and olives. Top with haloumi slices and serve immediately.