Summer Berry Salad – Deconstructed

Halloumi who?? That’s what we said the first time we heard about this special cheese that you can actually grill. How cool is that?  A cheese that you can throw on the bbq or an indoor grill that turns the perfect shade of golden brown, becomes nice and soft on the inside and doesn’t melt all over the place.  We knew we had to come up with a fun recipe using this awesome cheese…so we did!  Introducing 4th of July on a stick! We thought we would serve this simple salad deconstructed with fresh berries and grilled halloumi cheese on a skewer to showcase the red, white and blue color scheme we have going on. Also because anything on a skewer is just fun to eat and it looks really cute on a bed of mixed greens.

Stych Photography

We have been waiting for the perfect salad to drizzle our amazing creamy poppyseed dressing all over and this salad happens to scream poppyseed dressing so that’s what it got. Just add some toasted pecans and top with the adorable berry and cheese skewers, drizzle the poppyseed dressing over the top and you will look like Martha Stewart serving this up! Any excuse to look like a pro with very little effort is pretty amazing.  Side note- Halloumi cheese is seasonal to late spring/summer typically, they do sell it at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.  If for some reason you can’t find halloumi cheese you can use feta cheese instead.  Simply cut feta into large chunks, skip the grill and thread the feta on skewers in place of the halloumi cheese for an easy substitute.

Stych Photography

Summer Berry Salad - Deconstructed

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

4 mins

Total time

14 mins

 

Author: Good Thyme Kitchen

Serves: 6

Ingredients

For the Salad:

• 6 Cups mixed spring greens
• ½ cup toasted pecans
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 cup strawberries - halved
• 1 7oz. package Halloumi grilling cheese
• small bamboo or like skewer sticks

For the Poppyseed Dressing:

• ½ tsp dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp 0% Greek yogurt
• 1 tsp poppyseeds
• 3 Tbsp good quality extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

For the Salad:

1. Heat a small grill pan over medium-high heat. Add halloumi cheese, cook each side about 2 minutes until golden brown.
2. Cut cheese into large chunks. Use bamboo skewers and thread a strawberry, a chunk of halloumi cheese and two blueberries. Repeat until desired amount of skewers are made.
3. Plate mixed greens, top with candied pecans and add one or two skewers on top of each plate.

For the Poppyseed Dressing:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and whisk.
2. Drizzle over salad - store remaining dressing in the fridge for up to 3-5 days.

**If you can't find halloumi cheese you can substitute for large chunks of feta cheese. Don't grill the feta, just thread on the skewers in place of the halloumi cheese instead.

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