Spinach and halloumi refreshing salad
Earthy spinach, salty halloumi, orange slices, walnuts, and a three-ingredient vinaigrette. The orange does the balancing work.
Spinach and halloumi are both strong flavours. Spinach is earthy and slightly bitter, halloumi is salty and dense. On their own they're a bit much. Together with orange they make complete sense: the sweetness and acidity cuts through both, and suddenly the whole thing is balanced.
This salad takes about 15 minutes and it works as a light main or a side. The vinaigrette is a simple ratio you'll use again on other salads.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- 100g baby spinach (or regular spinach, washed)
- 200g halloumi, sliced
- 1 orange (a quarter for the vinaigrette, the rest sliced)
- 30g walnuts, roughly crushed
- Olive oil, salt, and pepper
For the orange vinaigrette: - Juice of a quarter orange - Equal part olive oil - Equal part honey or maple syrup - Salt and pepper
How to make it
Start with the vinaigrette. Combine the orange juice, olive oil, and honey in a small jar in equal parts. Close the lid and shake hard until it comes together. Taste and adjust. This is a ratio, not a fixed recipe, so add more honey if it's too sharp, more orange juice if it's too oily. Set aside.
Fry the halloumi. Slice it about 1cm thick and put it in a dry pan over high heat, no oil. Halloumi has enough fat to fry in itself. Leave it alone until the bottom is golden and it releases from the pan, about 2 minutes per side. You want proper colour on it.
Assemble. Put the spinach in a large bowl and add a small drizzle of olive oil. Toss it well before adding anything else. This coats the leaves lightly and means you need less vinaigrette overall.
Add the orange slices, walnuts, and the hot halloumi straight from the pan. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the top and serve immediately. The halloumi firms up as it cools and is best eaten while still warm.
A couple of things
On the halloumi: Dry pan, no oil, high heat. If you add oil it steams instead of frying and you lose the crust. The crust is the whole point of frying it rather than eating it cold.
On the vinaigrette: Equal parts is the starting point. Orange juice varies a lot in sweetness depending on the fruit, so always taste and adjust before dressing the salad. Some oranges need more honey, some need less.
On the orange: Use a proper eating orange rather than a juice orange if you have the choice. The flesh holds up better when sliced and the flavour is usually more complex. Blood oranges work well here in season.
On the walnuts: A light crush gives you more surface area and better distribution through the salad than leaving them whole. You don't need a food processor. A quick press with the flat of a knife does it.