Wednesday

Tomato Cheese Salad



It was crazy hot here and our a.c has stopped working... i really have to call the repair guy today. If it was India i would have had a big fit and cribbed and cried to my mom.. now since i am the adult here.. i have to suck it up and call the guy without a meltdown ( lit and fig!)
I was in the mood for a quick for substancial snack.. and i thought of the classic tomato mozerella and basil salad . But here i had a different set of ingredients, i of-course had tomatoes.. but sub the other stuff.



For the salad....

Ingredients:

Heirloom tomato -1, try if you can buy the funky shaped or rich color ones
Halloumi Cheese - 1/2 a block (again if u are a veg, make sure of vegetarian rennet)
Rosemary - few sprigs
Chilly olive oil - 1 tsp. (just infused chilly flakes with the oil- made a huge jar!)
Pepper - few twists

Method:

1. Slice the tomato into 1/2 inch disks. ( serrated kinife works best)

2. Slice the halloumi into 1/2 inch slices if possible (any thinner, they break apart)

3. Heat a skillet to med-high and brown the halloumi on both sides ( no need to add oil.. please) people! we are browning cheese!

4. Take a plate and arrange the tomato slices in single layer, top each slice of tomato with a slice of the cheese. Now sprinkle rosemary of top of each, a twist of pepper on each tomato and drizzle the olive oil on top. Pick up each tomato slice and enjoy.... and no, you do not have to share ;)

Note:
i did not add any salt, as halloumi is pretty salty, to read more about halloumi go
here

the olive oil is optional, really not needed to be honest.

19 comments:

FH said...

Tomato and cheese just warmed with Olive oil..err..chilli Olive oil.That's heaven!!:D

Suganya said...

Hi Rajitha....
This is a lovely looking salad.... Amazing pictures...

bha said...

Nice way to vent out frustration...:) and it is doubly beneficial, when it results in a wonderful snack....nice recipe and cool pics

Mandira said...

what a great looking salad, I wish I could be so creative with my temper :)

Swaruchy said...

wow Rajitha.....this one looks amazing dear :-)

bee said...

in my book, halloumi beats mozarella hands down. nice creation.

TBC said...

Beautiful pics. I am very tempted to try this right now, but unfortunately, I don't have a single ingredient. :-(
I saw something so similar to this on Giada's show yesterday.

Laavanya said...

That's a wonderful combination - pics look good too!

Sreelu said...

Rajitha this is as good as it can be,my god cheese,tomato and EVOO boy must have tasted great.bookmarked !!!

Richa said...

could u tempt me any further!!!!!

sra said...

Those pix are yummy! Wish we got halloumi cheese here!

archana said...

Pictures look tooo good.Liked the recipe. Tomatoes look so tasty with the grilled cheese:)

Saju said...

wow! I love grilled haloumi, what a lovely idea to team it with tomatoes.
By the way don't forget, I have tagged you for MEME, instructions are on my blog, I hope you can take part. Posted on the 28th of August 2007

Rajitha said...

asha - oh yeah! chilli olive oil no less ;)

sukanya - thanks :)

bhags - who knew i had this talent!

mandira - temper is a powerful thing baby ;)

sirisha - thanks sweetie

bee - i am with u on this

tbc- has she been copying my recipes again... what do i do with her!!

laavanya - that is a good combo and thanks :)

sreelu - EVOO.. how dare you....
(raising my fist and shaking it)

richa - he he

sra - if u live in the US, i'll mail u some.. if you are india- ....i know, i don't know what to say

archana - cheese and anything... always good

saju - i know.. sheer genius!! thnks for tagging me.. tho after reading it you may think what the hell...

Suganya said...

Looks amazing. Now what is that vegetarian rennet you were talking abt? Rennet is an animal product, as far as I know.

Rajitha said...

suganya- thanks, but not as amazing as ur posts come out. i love it when you ask questions ...here is some info


Rennet is a non-crucial part of the cheesemaking process. It makes cheese coagulate faster, separating the curds from the whey. It is useful when making harder cheeses that need to dry quickly.

The primary enzyme in rennet, chymosin, most often comes from the fourth stomach of a cow. Specifically, it has to come from a newborn calf - calves use it to learn how to digest milk. Occasionally it comes from piglets,who have similar digestive issues. However, there are vegetarian options.

The Ingredients

There are two main potential sources for vegetarian rennet: vegetable and microbial.

Vegetarian rennet - vegetable enzymes which work in the same way as chymosin - can come from fig leaves, melons, safflower, and wild thistles.
Microbial rennet is either fermented from fungi/bacteria or genetically modified; genetically modified rennet is created either by extracting the DNA for chymosin from calf stomach cells, or by bio-synthesizing it without the use of any calf cells.
source:http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=1144185

Vani said...

Hey, thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment! Love the colors of your salad. Never heard of Haloumi cheese but I;m sure it tastes as yum as it looks! Loved the picture.
How nice you're thinkg of your mom's name as your middle name. That's such a nice way to show your love.

Rajitha said...

vani- thanks! do try halloumi, it is really delicious..

Kribha said...

wow...looks so appetizing. These are new ingredients to me. will try to locate them in the store. Your picture speaks DELICIOUS.