Za'atar Roasted Pumpkin & Couscous Salad

If you visit here often, you will know that I like to play along over at I Heart Cooking Clubs, where twice a year we choose a chef whose food we explore, according to a variety of weekly themes, over the following six months.  You will also, most likely, know that our chosen chef for the last six months has been the extraordinary Donna Hay.

They say there is a season for everything, and that being the case Donna Hay has definitely been the perfect chef for my "season" of late.  Over the last six months I have been under a lot of pressure, on many fronts, and I have found Donna's simple, yet still packed with flavour, dishes absolutely perfect for those days when I've really been under the hammer.  I'm sure that had we been cooking with a more challenging chef, there would have been many weeks in which I just wouldn't have found the time or the energy to participate.  So thank you, Donna, you've been a lifesaver!

Sadly, though, it's time for us to say "Catch Ya Later Donna Hay", and choosing a dish for that final fling was no easy feat.  However, just as we are saying farewell to the last vestiges of summer in my part of the world, our thoughts are turning to slightly heartier, more warming dishes for our cooler evenings, so something to fit that autumn vibe seemed appropriate.

This Roasted Pumpkin & Couscous Salad, from Donna's book "Fast, Fresh, Simple" is perfect for this time of year.  It's still a salad, which is always a preferred meal option for me, anytime of year, but has warm ingredients and enough body and gusto for an autumn lunch or dinner.  Actually I would even eat this in the middle of winter, and almost certainly will when it rolls around.  As usual I couldn't resist the urge to ring in a few changes.  The preserved lemon in the couscous and the honey-cumin dressing really spoke to me of the Middle Eastern flavours that I love, but I thought there was definitely room to "up the ante" a little.  Before roasting, I brushed the pumpkin with a mixture of olive oil and za'atar (one of my favourite spice blends of thyme, sesame, sumac, salt, coriander and cumin).  I replaced feta with haloumi, mint with parsley, and added in some chopped pistachios for a little extra texture.

This salad was a wonderful combination of tastes and textures - sweetness from the pumpkin and honey, saltiness from the preserved lemon and haloumi, nuttiness of the couscous, crunch of the pistachios, the slight chewiness of the cheese, and the little hits of smoky spice coming through from the za'atar and dressing.  Absolutely delicious - this is definitely a dish I will be making many times over in the months ahead.

Roasted Pumpkin & Couscous Salad Recipe
Adapted from recipe by Donna Hay
from Fast, Fresh, Simple
Makes a substantial meal for 2 people, or would easily serve 3-4 people for a lighter meal or appetiser
Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

800g (28 oz) pumpkin, cut into thin slices
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon za'atar (I used Sami's Kitchen)
1 cup couscous
1-1/4 cups hot vegetable stock
1/2 a preserved lemon, rind thinly sliced, flesh discarded
generous handful flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
generous handful pistachios, roughly chopped
200g (7 oz) haloumi, fried and sliced

Dressing
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F).

Place pumpkin pieces, in a single layer, on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Mix the olive oil and za'atar together, and liberally brush over the pumpkin pieces.  Bake in the preheated oven until the pumpkin is tender and golden - 20 to 30 minutes depending on your pumpkin.

Meanwhile, put couscous into a medium sized bowl, add the hot vegetable stock, cover with cling film, and leave to stand until the couscous has fluffed up and absorbed all the stock - about 5 minutes.  Stir in the finely sliced preserved lemon rind, chopped parsley and pistachio nuts.

Set a small, very lightly oiled, non-stick pan over medium heat, and fry the haloumi, until golden on both sides and just starting to "ooze".  You can either fry it in one large block, then cut into slices once done, or you can cut it into slices first and then fry the slices individually.  Remove from pan and set aside.

To make the dressing, whisk all ingredients together.

To serve the dish, arrange the pumpkin, couscous and cheese in layers on plates, and spoon over the dressing.

Before we finally say goodbye to Donna Hay (though in my case it will definitely be "Catch Ya Later" rather than goodbye), I thought I would share a little round-up of a few of my favourite dishes from the last six months.  I loved these dishes and I'm sure you will too.

Green Tea Soba Noodles with Soy-Roasted Salmon and Broad Bean & Radish Salad

Pearl Barley Salad with Pistachios, Fava & Pomegranate

Prawn & Chilli Pot-Sticker Dumplings

Harissa-Marinated Tarakihi with Lemony Couscous & Tzatziki

Roasted Strawberry Custard Tarts

Green Olive Tapenade & Mozzarella French Toast Sandwiches

Crispy Skin Miso-Glazed Salmon with Radish & Rocket Salad

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the fabulous dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.  And don't forget to come back next week, as we begin our cooking adventures with our new chef, the incomparable Nigel Slater.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

          

Zucchini, Mint & Haloumi Salad

This week at I Heart Cooking Clubs, we're conjuring up Donna Hay dishes which are "Fast & Fabulous" - dishes which can be made in 30 minutes or less.

This dish definitely fits the bill on both fronts. It could not have been faster - about 20 minutes all up, and that included a visit to the garden to pick a lemon, a few nasturtium flowers and a bunch of fresh mint.  I'd like to say I picked the zucchini as well, but although my zucchini plant is flowering and producing they were not quite ready for picking.

It was also definitely fabulous on many levels ... great textural contrast between the crisp zucchini, velvety spinach leaves, and chewy, melted cheese;  wonderful, robust flavours - bright, herby mint, tangy, sour pomegranate molasses, the sharp saltiness of preserved lemon, and a little bit of heat from the chilli;  and, no slouch in the looks department either - this was a very pretty dish and one which would certainly wow your guests despite the miniscule time spent on it.

I made a few minor changes to the original recipe.  I cut back the pomegranate molasses as it is a strong flavour and I felt the quantity specified was a bit much, and added a little bit of olive oil to help distribute the pomegranate molasses through the salad.  I also added a bit of preserved lemon for a little extra zing.  I will certainly be making this salad many times over this summer, and although this would make a great accompaniment to a bigger meal, I was more than happy to make a meal of it on its own.

Zucchini, Mint & Haloumi Salad Recipe

Adapted from recipe by Donna Hay

from Fast, Fresh, Simple

Serves 2 as a light meal or appetiser, or

Serves 1 person as a substantial meal

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

2x small-medium zucchini

large handful of mint leaves, finely shredded

large handful or two of baby spinach leaves

flaky sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

1/4 of a preserved lemon, flesh discarded and skin finely sliced

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

200g haloumi, thinly sliced

extra virgin olive oil for brushing & drizzling

pinch dried chilli flakes

1x lemon halved

Heat a non-stick frying pan over medium heat.  Brush haloumi lightly with olive oil on both sides, and sprinkle over dried chilli flakes.  Add haloumi and lemon (cut-side down) to the preheated pan.  Cook the haloumi until golden brown on both sides, by which time the lemon flesh will also be golden and caramelised.

Meanwhile, cut the zucchini into juliennes, and add to a medium sized bowl together with the shredded mint, preserved lemon, pomegranate molasses, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss gently until everything is combined.

To serve, arrange salad on plates and top with a few slices of the haloumi.  Drizzle with a little extra olive oil and squeeze over the caramelised lemon.

If you would like to get to know Donna Hay a little better, and to see all the wonderful fast and fabulous dishes my friends have come up with, then do go visit I Heart Cooking Clubs and check out the links.

I'll also be sharing this post this week at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, Weekend Cooking hosted by Beth at Beth Fish Reads, Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays hosted by my special friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, and at Foodie Fridays hosted by Designs by Gollam.

              

Rocket & Cress Salad with Roasted Figs & Haloumi

Last week when I shared with you this Salad of Baby Spinach with Dates & Almonds, from Yotam Ottolenghi, I thought it was not possible to improve on perfection.  And that may still be true.  But when I set out to make this salad again for my lunch today, and ended up allowing a few different ingredients I had on hand take this in a slightly different direction, I think I came pretty close.

I had some rocket (arugula to some of you) and watercress kicking around in the fridge, which I thought would make a nice change from the spinach.  I also had a nice block of haloumi I'd made a couple of weeks ago, using this recipe from Alessandra Zecchini.

I stuck with the sumac and chilli-spiked croutons and almonds from the original recipe, which I've got to say are so addicitive that I could eat just a bowlful of them on their own as a wee snack.  Sitting on my kitchen bench is also a large bowl of fresh figs, raided from my neighbour's tree, and it seemed like a few of those roasted off would make a nice substitute for the dates.

The result was everything I dreamed it would be, and more.  The peppery rocket and cress, combined with the lemony-spicy croutons and almonds, the sweet, juicy figs, and the salty haloumi was a blindingly-good flavour combination.  While crunchy nuts and croutons, velvety leaves, soft fruit and squeaky cheese all added up to a great textural combo as well.

This is the perfect dish for a light autumn lunch, or would also make a great side dish to roasted chicken or some lovely barbequed lamb chops.  Hope you'll give it a try.

Rocket & Cress Salad with Roasted Figs & Haloumi Recipe

Inspired by a recipe by Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tomimi

from Jerusalem: A Cookbook

Vegetarian

Makes a meal for one person or side dish for two

Click here for a printable copy of this recipe

Note:  Really you don't have to be too fussy about quantities here, just adjust to suit what you have on hand or to suit the number of mouths you want to feed

approx 100g (3-1/2 oz) haloumi, thickly sliced

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for dressing

1-2 slices of sourdough bread, cut into cubes

small handful of raw almonds, very roughly chopped

1 teaspoon sumac

chilli flakes to taste

4x fat, juicy, fresh figs, cut into quarters

2x large handfuls rocket & watercress leaves, mixed

juice of 1/2 lemon

flaky sea salt

Heat a small pan over medium heat, and once the pan is hot, dry fry the haloumi slices until golden on both sides.  Remove and set aside to cool.

Wipe out the pan, add one tablespoon of the olive oil, and return the pan to the heat.  Once the oil is hot, add the bread and almonds to the pan and cook until they are crisp and golden, stirring regularly.  Remove from the heat, add the sumac and chilli flakes, and a small pinch of flaky sea salt.  Toss to combine well, then remove from the pan and set aside to cool.

Meanwhile, wipe out the pan again and return to the heat.  Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan and, once hot, add the figs.  Saute for several minutes, turning regularly until the figs are caramelised and softened and juices starting to run.  Remove and set aside while you assemble the salad.

Put rocket and watercress leaves into a serving bowl or platter.  Add the toasted bread and almonds and toss well.  Tear or chop the haloumi slices into bite sized pieces and distribute evenly amongst the leaves.  Arrange the roasted figs over the top, squeeze over the lemon juice, and drizzle generously with the extra virgin olive oil.  Taste and sprinkle over another pinch of flaky sea salt if necessary.

I'm sharing this post at See Ya In the Gumbo hosted by the lovely Michelle at Ms. enPlace, at Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays hosted by my friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen, and at Foodie Friday hosted by Designs by Gollam.

                     

Grilled Fig, Haloumi & Pomegranate Salad

 

Over Christmas I was lucky enough to add a few great new cookbooks to my collection.  One, "Ottolenghi, The Cookbook", was a Christmas present to myself picked up on a trip to Auckland from Cook the Books. The other two, Donna Hay's latest book "Seasons" and "Falling Cloudberries" by Tessa Kiros were acquired with some book vouchers I got for Christmas from my very generous and adoring Dad.

These are some wonderful books, and over the next few weeks I plan to share with you some of the things I've been making from these books.  Today, I want to take you inside the Donna Hay book.

This book is the best of her quarterly, seasonal magazines that I am sure many of you love - everything is presented with her inimitable style and flair.  I love her ability to transform just a few simple ingredients (so many of her recipes seem to have just half a dozen ingredients), without complicating them in any way, into something wonderful.  The book features such gems as: Spring - "paper-bag snapper with preserved lemon" and "milk chocolate and coffee layer cake";  Summer - "yellow cherry tomato tarte tatin" and "white peach and fig granita";  Autumn - "pumpkin, spinach and goat's cheese pie" and "sticky orange and vanilla upside-down cake";  and Winter - "olive-crusted veal with feta mash" and "pear and espresso panna cotta.  This book really makes me look forward to the changing seasons.  There is plenty in this book for both vegetarians and meat eaters alike, and for anyone who likes simple, fantastic tasting food without the fuss.

Today's recipe - grilled fig, haloumi and pomegranate salad - is from the summer section of the book.  It is the very first page I opened the book at when I found it in the book store, and I was immediately hooked. As you might expect, this salad took just a few minutes to put together, but it seemed like something utterly special and luxurious.  This has much to do, no doubt, with the fact that here in New Zealand fresh figs are actually a bit of a luxury and are available for such a short time.  This would certainly be a fabulous dish to serve up to someone you want to impress or spoil for a special occasion or, as I did, have something really special when you have to dine alone.

In the original recipe, Donna suggests frying the haloumi in some olive oil;  however, I chose to grill it and was happy with the results.  Since I had the grill out, I thought that grilling the figs might be nice, although the original recipe didn't call for doing anything to them other than cutting them in half.  I did hedge my bets though - as I wasn't sure whether I would prefer grilled or plain figs I only grilled half of them.  As it turned out, I loved the way that grilling them seemed to really intensify the sweetness and juiciness of the figs, so next time I would grill them all.

Grilled Fig, Haloumi & Pomegranate Salad Recipe

Click here for printable copy

Adapted from "Seasons" by Donna Hay

Vegetarian

Serves 2

1/2 cup mint leaves

large handful rocket (arugula) leaves

4 green figs, halved

200g haloumi, sliced thinly

1/2 pomegranate, seeds and juice removed

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Heat a ridged grill pan until hot.  Cook the haloumi on both sides until nice char marks are starting to appear, and the cheese is just starting to soften.  Cook the figs, cut-side down, until lightly charred and juices are beginning to run.  Remove from the grill.

Allow to cool slightly, then cut or tear the haloumi into smaller pieces.  Cut the fig halves in half again (so now your figs are in quarters).

Remove the seeds from the  pomegranate (I like the "spanking" method - incredibly satisfying), and retain any juice that comes out with them.

Arrange the figs, haloumi, mint and rocket leaves in a bowl or platter.  Sprinkle the pomegrante seeds over the top and drizzle over the juice.

Lightly combine the red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil, and drizzle over the salad.  Toss gently to combine.

I'm also submitting this post to Cookbook Sundays, hosted by the lovely Brenda at Brenda's Canadian Kitchen.  She's worth a visit any day of the week, but why not head over there right now and see who else has dusted off their cookbooks - you'll almost certainly find some great recipes, and maybe you'll discover a new book you'd like to add to your collection.

Things to do with Pomegranate Molasses

It occurred to me after my Ruby Salad post last week that some of you might be wondering what else to do with the jar of pomegranate molasses you just bought to make the dressing. Or perhaps you were even questioning the wisdom of buying a jar just to make a dressing.

Well, let me tell you that once you have a jar of this in your pantry you will not want to be without it. It is now readily available in Mediterranean and Asian specialty stores, as well as some supermarkets (see Source Guide below). It is relatively inexpensive and keeps almost indefinitely. It is thick and syrupy, as you would expect, dark brown in colour, and its tart/sweet flavour is utterly unique. There is no doubt in my mind that once you have tried this you will be hooked. This is one of those wonderful ingredients that adds a real “wow-factor” to the simplest of dishes.

So, apart from salad dressings, what can you do with it? Here are a few simple suggestions.

Make a refreshing drink by mixing 1 teaspoon of pomegranate molasses with lemon juice and sugar; then add water or soda and adjust to your taste. You could also turn this into a cocktail by adding the alcohol of your choice – vodka and rum both work really well with this.

Use to glaze the skin of a chicken or duck breast before cooking – skin will be crispy and a little sour.

Glaze a rack of lamb before cooking, or use to dip barbecued lamb cutlets.

Make a marinade for salmon fillets by combining: 1/4 cup pomegranate molasses, 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup dry sherry, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1 clove of garlic, crushed. Marinate up to 4 hours, remove from marinade and bake in a 160^oC oven for 10 minutes. While fish is baking pour marinade into a saucepan, and reduce over low heat to about half. Drizzle reduced pomegranate marinade over fish to serve.

Baked fish parcels – place pieces of firm fleshed fish in centre of piece of tinfoil or parchment paper, drizzle over pomegranate molasses, slivers of garlic, sliced lemon, and finely sliced fennel. Complete with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, close up parcel, and bake at 180^oC till cooked through.

Make a dressing using pomegranate molasses, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and salt and freshly ground black pepper, add chopped flat leaf parsley and mint. Use this dressing over any of the following combinations:

* Char-grilled eggplant and courgette, roasted tomatoes and carrots, black olives and feta cheese

* Roasted pumpkin and mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, baby spinach and grilled haloumi (see Source Guide)

* Mesclun leaves, toasted walnuts, sliced apple, raisins and goats cheese

Drizzle pomegranate molasses over a block of cream cheese and serve with crackers.

I also came across this recipe on Epicurious for Oranges with Pomegranate Molasses and Honey, which I haven’t tried yet but which is high on my list of things to try real soon, especially with oranges being in season right now. I just know that this is going to be great.

If you enjoy any of these suggestions, or maybe have a few of your own, please feel free to leave a comment. I would be really pleased to hear your ideas.

* Lastly, even though I mentioned above that pomegranate molasses are now "relatively" easy to find, here in New Zealand (and especially in Christchurch) some things can still be a little hard to find. So I thought it would be useful to add a Source Guide to this site, showing places where I know you can find any of the more unusual ingredients or products that I use. If you know of other places, please leave me a comment and I will be happy to add them to the Source Guide.

Source Guide:

*Pomegranate Molasses

Available in Christchurch from: Mediterranean Food Warehouse (outlets also in Nelson & Wellington)

Elsewhere available from: Sabato

*Haloumi

Also available in Christchurch from Mediterranean Food Warehouse