Grilled Halloumi Salad with Pepita Brittle

Blood orange discs are tossed with grilled Halloumi, baby arugula, chives, sumac & broken shards of pepita brittle. The whole thing is covered in a blood orange juice and toasted coriander seeds dressing. The addition of seed brittle is a recent iteration and takes this humble dish to a new level! It’s one of the top salads that’s often requested by my partner, hope you all liked it as much as we do.

*Pepita Brittle can be easily made ahead and stored in an airtight container to use whenever. Feel free to substitute blood oranges with tangerines or juicy navel oranges

Ingredients (serves 2)

120g Baby Arugula Leaves, cleaned & pat dry

15g Chives, roughly chopped

7g Either Basil or Parsley Leaves (combo of both works too)

2 Blood Oranges, de-seeded & white pith removed , sliced into discs

1/4lb or 114g Halloumi, sliced into large rectangles

1/4 tsp Flaky Sea Salt

1 tsp Sumac

Pepita Brittle

1/2 cup Salted Roasted Pumpkin Seeds / Pepitas (I get it from Trader Joe’s)

Juice & Zest from one Blood Orange

1/2-3/4 tsp Ground Chipotle Chile

2 tbsp Maple Syrup

Dressing

2 tsp Blood Orange zest

1 tsp Red Pepper flakes

1 tsp Salt

1/2 tbsp ground toasted coriander seeds

3 tbsp Blood Orange Juice

1 tbsp White Wine or Champagne Vinegar

1 tbsp Water

1.5 tbsp good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions

🥗 Prep the Pepita Brittle - heat up a non-stick pan & add all the ingredients. Cook until sticky, about 5-6 mins. Once cooled, break it into small pieces & keep it aside

🥗 Prep the dressing - whisk all the ingredients and keep it aside. Heat up a non-stick skillet, add few drops of oil. Then place halloumi slices, cook each side for a minute or two (until you see the golden blisters all over)

🥗 Combine 3/4 dressing with arugula and herbs; mix well and divide into two bowls. Now divide blood orange discs, pepita brittle pieces & grilled Halloumi into those bowls. Drizzle the remaining dressing, add flaky salt & sumac. Serve with a thick slice of toasted bread

Note: to bulk up the salad feel free to add cooked couscous or quinoa. Horner, make sure to adjust the amount of dressing & seasoning accordingly