Sunday, May 23, 2010

Spinach, rocket, roast pumpkin & pan fried haloumi salad with a honey & basalmic vinegar dressing


I had tried this salad at Gemelle not long ago, and really fell in love with the flavours. I had never thought to put honey into a salad dressing, especially not with basalmic vinegar..!


So i went home & googled a recipe & found one on taste.com.au (link here).

I've made it twice now, and some tips are:


- make sure the pumpkin is scattered over one layer and not bunched up (so they dont get mushed together)

- make sure pumpkin is well cooled before mixing with salad leaves (otherwise you'll get wilted leafs)

- toss leaves with dressing first, before adding pumpkin & haloumi so that leaves are completely coated so you get full flavor in each bite!


I used a mixed baby spinach & rocket salad mix, but you can use any salad leaves that you want, its the yummy dressing that makes it sooooooo good.




Enjoy!

24 comments:

Mark @ Cafe Campana said...

Great looking salad. Thanks for sharing.

Rita (mademoiselle délicieuse) said...

A lovely balance of sweet, salty and bitter flavours and sounds like a great warm salad for winter.

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

That pumpkin and halloumi looks glisteningly good Betty-yum! :D

Adrian @ Food Rehab said...

Love halloumi cheese. Nice and salty indeed.

Thanks for the tip in combining balsamic and honey!

Maria said...

Heyyyyy thanks Betty! Need to try this, I bought some haloumi on the weekend :D

chocolatesuze said...

ooh your haloumi is so golden and awesome looking! i like the idea of honey + balsamic too!

Anonymous said...

This is a wonderful salad that is packed full of flavours! Love it!

Renita said...

what a lovely shot betty! Thanks for sharing :)

Jen said...

Honey and balsamic sounds delish! I'm obsessed with caramelised balsamic at the moment... Sweet salad dressings are the best.

Amy @ cookbookmaniac said...

I went to Gemelle for the first time the other night and absolutely loved it! Who knew that such a great Italian restaurant would exist in dingy Liverpool. Nice job with the salad.

Anna said...

I love Halloumi in salads it gives an nice salty bite. Nice combination, looks beautiful.

pigpigscorner said...

I love roast pumpkin in salads! Adds a nice sweet flavour to salads and also distracts me from the greens..lol

Emma @CakeMistress said...

*drooool*
Haloumi, pumpkin, rocket and pinenuts are a legendary combo.
This reminded me of a super-tasty toastie I used to get at a cafe back in Perth, but they added a basil pesto in place of dressing.
Can't wait to make this for dinner.

Anna said...

*Ditto* with the drooling! This is one of my absolute favourite salad combinations.. I sooo want to try this recipe out tomorrow night! Looks amazing :)

Angie Lives to Eat (and Cook)! said...

Oh I love roast pumpkin! It's such a versatile vegetable. Everything in that salad is so tasty!

Phil said...

I'm lucky enough to try this delish salad made by Betty herself =D

The Cooking Photographer said...

Wow Betty! This is amazing looking!

OohLookBel said...

Pumpkin, haloumi and spinach are perfect together. Great idea for the honey balsamic dressing, too! I must copy this idea :)

Stella said...

Hey Betty, your blog is so nice!

And I love the idea of this salad. I've been eating a lot them lately, since it's sweltering here. I don't know that I would have to be careful about wilted lettuce, b/c I kind of love wilted lettuce if it has absorbed salt and dressing-yum!

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

That is an awesome salad! Surely extremely scrumptious. I love halloumi.

Cheers,

Rosa

M D said...

This salad looks amazing. I love that rich dressing with balsamic vinegar and honey.

Rose said...

Thats my type of salad :) YUM! I make one similar but with avocado, black olives and sun dried tomato minus the halumi.
And, you can never go wrong with mudcake for a birthday, i mean who doesnt like mudcake :)
Hope you have a nice weekend!

Rose

Trisha said...

THIS is one of my most favourite salads ever! I can finish a big bowl and polish the leftover balsamic vinegar with some sourdough! Mmmmm

Jen @ Tiny Urban Kitchen said...

Oh wow, that salad looks so flavorful yet healthy at the same time. I love the idea of roasted pumpkins with rocket sounds fantastic. Thanks so much for sharing the recipe!