Halloumi: Part 2

Summer salad alert!

This is a riff on the Lebanese fattoush, but mine’s got a lot more vegetables, a lot less herbage and pita, and gets rounded out with the help of some griddled halloumi cheese.

All I did was chunk up some tomatoes and garden cucumbers, cut up some pita, drizzled it with olive oil and seasoned it with za’atar. Then I broiled the pita pieces in a preheated oven until super crunchy. I sliced up a packet of halloumi after rinsing and drying it, put a little oil in a pan and fried the slices until nicely browned. (Also sliced up some red onion on the side; we have some onion haters in the family and why not make everyone happy?)

For assemblage I broke up the pita chips, tossed everything together with fresh lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and more za’atar; added some fresh herbs from the garden (use whatever you've got; there are no wrong answers here. Except for sage), and then served the salad immediately so that the pita chips didn’t get too soggy and the cheese stayed warm.

I simply cannot eat enough of this stuff and no matter how much of it you make, there will be no leftovers.

Roasted cauliflower in tahini dressing

On this historic day, the inauguration of President Obama, during this historic week -- Sides Week at The National Nosh, I present to you a vegetable long overlooked, even derided, yet full of tasty possibilities. 

Here's how to make it.

Ingredients:

1 head cauliflower, cut into bite-sized florets (Tip: whenever the price of cauliflower tops $4, which now seems routine, I do something I never would have imagined: I switch to frozen. It's not quite as good, but not half-bad, either.)

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 heaping Tbsp tahini

2 tsp water

juice of half a lemon

about 1 tsp za'atar (optional, but it kind of makes it)

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss prepped cauliflower in olive oil, season with salt and pepper and lay out evenly on a cookie sheet. Roast in preheated oven until slightly browned; about 25 minutes.

In a small bowl, mix together tahini, water and lemon juice. At first it'll seem like it won't come together, but it will. If it's too thick, thin it with more lemon juice or water. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When cauliflower is done, toss with dressing and sprinkle with za'atar. 

And then bite into a taste of a brand new day.