Watermelon, Grilled Halloumi, Citrus and Mint Salad
For this salad, you need to segment a couple of oranges and grapefruit. It’s worth it. With the segments stripped of their membrane each bite is a burst of sweet freshness. The whole salad is sharp and refreshing. Watermelon with citrus and mint goes great together. And the salty halloumi really works well with these flavours.
This salad is inspired by this Halloumi, Watermelon & Mint. And there are lots of other inspiring recipes to be found on that page.
I tried some avocado in the salad when I first made this. I just liked the idea of adding a good helping of unsaturated fat. But to be honest, the avocado and halloumi seem to clash so I would recommend adding one or the other, rather than both together. And the grilled halloumi is gorgeous in this.
Ingredients
- (~600g) ½ watermelon, cubed
- 1 large sweet grapefruit, peeled & segmented
- 2 large sweet oranges, peeled & segmented
- ~250g halloumi
- extra virgin oilive oil
- ½ lime
- avocado, peeled, cored, sliced, drizzled with lime juice, sprinkled with salt - *vegan option
- 30 - 50g fresh mint sprigs, leaves
Instructions
- The larger the fruit the easier it is to separate its flesh from the pith and membranes. Start with the grapefruit. With a sharp finely serated knife, slice off the top and bottom of the grapefruit so that flesh is exposed on the top and bottom. Place the grapefruit flat on a plate and slice down, slicing off the sides in strips so that you are fully slicing off the peel and pith, and exposing the flesh of each segment. With the peel and pith fully removed, cut out each segment from the membranes. It’s not easy to do and it doesn’t have to be perfect. Discard the peel, pith and any pips you discover in the segments. Do not discard the juice that will fill up the plate, you can pour this over the fruit in the salad bowl. Repeat the same process for the oranges.
- Place the cubed watermelon in a large bowl. Slice half of the mint leaves, scatter over. Add the segmented citrus slices to the bowl. Pour over the juices from the plate and squeeze over some lime juice.
- Slice the halloumi. Brush some extra virgin olive oil over the halloumi slices and grill until golden brown. Turn over and grill the other side. Make sure both sides are nicely golden brown. Remove from the heat and let cool for at least 5 minutes or until you can safely tear the slices apart.
- Tear the grilled halloumi slices into the salad bowl. Drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over everything. Tear the rest of the mint leaves into the salad bowl. Squeeze over some more fresh lime juice. Gently mix around. Taste and add more mint leaves if desired. The mint really brightens the flavors - so don’t skimp on it.
