Tag: appetizer
Grilled Halloumi Cheese
Grilled Halloumi Cheese
Halloumi is a Cypriot semi-hard, unripened brined cheese traditionally made from a mixture of goat's and sheep's milk. It has a high melting point, making it ideal for grilling or frying. I like to cut mine into cubes, skewer them, grill, and drizzle with honey. Halloumi is also great in salads or as a meat substitute in pita sandwiches and wraps.
Equipment
- metal skewers
- chimney starter
- charcoal
- charcoal grill
Ingredients
- 8 oz halloumi cheese
- olive oil
- honey
Instructions
- Cut the halloumi into 1 1/2” cubes. Pat dry with paper towels. Place on metal skewers and brush with olive oil.
- Let your charcoal turn gray in your chimney starter. Pour on the grill and place on the grill grate. Allow the grate to get hot for a couple minutes. Place the halloumi skewers directly over the charcoal.
- Grill for a couple minutes on all 4 sides; about 8-10 minutes in total.
- Drizzle over honey and serve.
Cauliflower Vadai
Cauliflower Vadai
Vadai are fritters made out of cauliflower, much like pakora, but with a multitude of ingredients like curry leaves, cilantro, green chilies, mint, cashews, onions, ginger, and white poppy seeds added to the mix. Unlike pakora, the Vadai are shallow pan fried instead of deep fried, using significantly less oil.
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower broken into florets
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 liters water
- 4 green chilies finely chopped
- 6 sprigs mint finely chopped
- 4 sprigs cilantro finely chopped
- 3 sprigs curry leaves finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ginger finely minced
- 1/2 cup yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground fennel
- 1 1/2 tbsp white poppy seeds
- 10 whole cashews finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Bring a pot of water to boil. Add in the turmeric, salt, and cauliflower florets. Simmer for 8 minutes. Remove from the pot and let cool.
- In a large bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients.
- Add the cauliflower to the bowl. Using a potato masher, mash the cauliflower into very small pieces.
- Mix the cauliflower into the rest of the ingredients.
- Form the dough into small patties; about 1/4 cup per patty.
- Heat up 1/4” deep of vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the patties into the pan, making sure to not overcrowd.
- Fry for 4-5 minutes a side until crispy. Drain on paper towels.
Val’s Antipasti Salad
Val’s Antipasti Salad
In Italian cuisine, antipasto is looked as an appetizer to prepare the stomach for a meal; dating back to medieval times. Cured meats, seafood, olives, cheeses, and pickled vegetables are some of the many forms of antipasti. Moving forward to modern times, Italian Americans combined these ingredients in pasta salad form with a vinegar-based Italian dressing as the sauce. This particular recipe is my sweetie Val’s personal recipe, which is quite delicious. Other additions you could add to this salad include cherry tomatoes, artichokes, marinated mushrooms, salami, mozzarella, basil; just to name a few.
Ingredients
- 16 oz tri-color rotini or fusilli pasta cooked al dente
- 8 oz Monterey Jack cheese cut into 1/2” cubes
- 8 oz cheddar cut into 1/2” cubes
- 2 cups broccoli florets
- 2 cups cauliflower florets
- 6 oz pepperoni cut into half moon slices
- 1 cup pepperoncini peppers chopped
- 1 cup black olives sliced
- 1/2 cup red onion thinly sliced
- 2 cups Italian dressing
Instructions
- Cook the pasta al dente according to package instructions. Rinse under cold water.
- Mix all of the ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.
