Warm Herby Potato and Haloumi Salad

To make vegan, lose the haloumi.

Serves 4

Ingredients (my measurements aren’t exact. If you need stricter instructions…sorry):
• 20 baby new potatoes
• 1 large red capsicum
• About 200g of green beans or peas or both
• A punnet of Cherry Tomatoes
• A big bunch Baby or English Spinach
• Haloumi (1-2 packets, depending on your guests’ hunger and love of cheese)

For the sauce:
• Big splash of olive oil
• 2 lemons (or 1 large, really juicy one)
• 2 cloves garlic (or 3 if they are small)
• Half a white onion
• A handful of mint
• A child’s handful of thyme
• A handful of Italian / flat leaf parsley
• Pepper and Salt

1. Chop the potatoes in half or quarts (large bite size chunks) and boil in saucepan of salted water til cooked, but not mushy! When cooked, drain and place in a bowl to cool a little, but not completely – they should be warm on serving, not hot or cold.

2. Meanwhile chop the onion and garlic very finely.
3. Fry onion and garlic slowly in a generous amount of olive oil til softened but not brown.
4. Squeeze lemons and pour in lemon juice, add salt & pepper
5. Remove sauce from heat and add chopped herbs, stirring and leaving to stand in the frypan.

6. Chop capsicum into large slices – just the four sides, thus removing the core but leaving the pieces big. Grill capsicum on a high heat til charred.
7. Leave til sufficiently cool to peel off charred skin.
8. Slice into thin strips then add to bowl with potatoes.

9. Chop green beans into 3-5cm lengths. If you like them crunchy, chuck them straight into the bowl. If not, steam them for a minute or two then add. Add peas too if you are using peas. Add baby spinach leaves.

10. Stir sauce through potato salad mix, leaving a little to drizzle on top.

11. Place portions on plates before or during frying haloumi as the cheese is best just after it has been cooked. Scatter potato salad with chopped cheery tomatoes.

12. To fry the haloumi, bring a non-stick pan to a reasonably high heat, chop the cheese into slices (about 7mm thick) and fry until brown.
13. Place haloumi slices on top of salad, drizzle a bit more sauce on and garnish with sprigs of fresh mint and parsley.