Summer is for grilling and picnics and fresh produce and spending less time cooking and more time outside. This Grilled Halloumi & Herb Salad covers all the bases, somehow managing to deliver bite after bite that’s all at once smoky, fresh, tender and crunchy. Plus, it gets better with age, as all those flavors marinate and meld into one another. It’s the gift that keeps on giving!
With so much going on at once, it’s hard to say which component is the centerpiece, but the grilled halloumi cheese is a good place to start. This Greek sheep’s milk cheese is a grill’s best friend. It gets charred and crispy on the outside, a great canvas for those glorious hash marks. Meanwhile, the inside softens up just so, releasing it’s complex, briny, mint-infused flavors. Torn into the salad along with grilled and shaved corn, halloumi adds some smoky, salty flavors to an otherwise bright meal.
To counter that big, bold flavor, fresh torn herbs bring the salad to life. Basil, mint, parsley and scallions make this a complete sensory experience – adding sweet, summery aromatics to every bite and whiff.
Holding it all together are our friends fregola and walnuts. Their toasty notes and prominent texture speckled throughout keep things from getting out of hand. Think of them as the cool chaperone at the party.
All together, this torn, toasted, grilled, dressed salad is refreshing and substantial. It’s made to last, so make extra and thank yourself later. And hurry! Summer isn’t getting any younger, the corn is as sweet at it’ll ever be, herbs are cheap and everywhere, and your grill has a hot date with some halloumi cheese.
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Ingredients
- 1 cup walnuts, toasted
- 1 cup fregola or Israeli couscous, cooked and cooled
- 2 ears corn, husked
- Olive oil
- 8 oz. halloumi cheese, cut in ¾ inch slices
- 2-3 scallions, chopped
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- ½ cup basil leaves
- ½ cup mint leaves
- 1 lemon
- 2 tablespoons Champagne vinegar
- Turn the grill on to medium heat. Brush halloumi slices and corn with olive oil and place on the grill, arranging halloumi on the least hot areas. Flip the halloumi after 3-5 minutes, when brown hash marks have formed. Cook for 3-5 minutes on the other side and remove. Rotate the corn until slightly charred on all sides. Let both ingredients cool down for about 10 minutes.
- Once cooled, cut the corn off the cob, tear halloumi into bite-sized pieces and add both to a serving bowl. Add fregola, scallions, parsley and walnuts. Tear basil and mint in just before serving. Add lemon juice, vinegar, a glug of olive oil and salt to taste. Toss to combine. Serve at room temperature or chilled.