Grilled Halloumi & Red Pepper Burgers

Halloumi is a great addition to a vegetarian diet. It's so tasty and adds a lot of texture to a dish.

I'm sure you're familiar with it. I first tried it about 25 years ago when the chef in a small pub in Fife offered to make Graham and I an off-menu meal when we said we were vegetarian. We were instantly hooked.

Halloumi is a semi-hard unripened cheese from Cyprus. The Greek Cypriots in the south of Cyprus call it halloumi, but the Turkish Cypriots in the north call it Hellim. Both are equally good, although I'm sure each side of the border would dispute that fact. Halloumi or Hellim is best when grilled or fried as it takes on a chewy texture.

I don't eat it often as we usually eat dairy free with Graham and who can be bothered to cook two meals? I do sometimes order a halloumi burger in a pub we occasionally go to called Drouthy's. They serve their halloumi burger with a grilled portabello mushroom and sweet chilli sauce. It's tasty!

For my halloumi burger. I grilled halloumi, red pepper and courgette. I stacked my burger up high, starting with the bun, I added salad leaves, red pepper, halloumi, then courgette and spicy salsa. It was rather good. A very hearty meal, with lots of flavour from the grilled vegetables and cheese. 

I bought all my ingredients from Waitrose who are loving halloumi this summer and challenged me to come up with a recipe using it as part of their 'Do You Love Halloumi' promotion. Apparently you do love halloumi as online searches have gone up 83% in the last two years.

Cooper didn't love Halloumi until today. In fact he refused to even try it. 

I was super sneaky tonight. I knew he was waiting for dinner and hungry, so I just handed him a finger of grilled halloumi to eat. He asked what it was, but I evaded his question and wandered off. He ate it and said it was good, so I explained what it was. I always think it's a minor victory when I add something new to his diet. Last night we made the discovery he loves asparagus. A good week!

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Grilled Halloumi & Red Pepper Burgers

Written by Jacqueline Meldrum

August 26, 2016

A stacked halloumi and red pepper burger layered in a bun with courgette, salad leaves and salsa. The vegetables and cheese are grilled for extra flavour and texture.

Ingredients

• 250g halloumi, thickly sliced
• 1 large red pepper, cut into 4 long pieces
• 1 courgette, sliced lengthwise
• 2 handfuls salad leaves
• 2 rolls or burger buns

Instructions

1. Cut the rolls in half and lightly toast the inside for crunch.
2. Heat your griddle or grill, then grill the red pepper and courgette until they have softened and have good markings from the pan.3. Next grill the halloumi. There is no need to add any oil. Just give it a bit of time to turn golden and crisp.4. Stack each roll with salad leaves, red pepper, halloumi and courgette, then top with salsa and the roll lid, then get stuck in.5. Enjoy!

Details

Total time: 20 mins
Yield: Serves 2

If you liked this recipe, try my

  falafel & halloumi kebabs with spiced peanut butter marinade.

You can also find more halloumi recipes in the Waitrose article 5 Ways with Halloumi.

Disclosure: This recipe was commissioned by Waitrose.