Squidgy Fried Halloumi with Crushed Nuts – less painful than it sounds
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Ah, fried halloumi. You springy, squidgy, salty, delicious little cheese.
The more we eat halloumi cheese, the more we love it. This fried halloumi recipe comes almost a year to the day after we released our last halloumi recipe, the heavenly halloumi salad.
And heavenly it is, much like this very recipe.
Fried halloumi with crushed nuts and sweet peppers
While crushed nuts sounds painful to be sure, there are a couple of reasons that this recipe really stands out to us – and they’re adaptable to everyone.
Firstly, if you’re looking for a vegetarian high-protein recipe or meal plan then this one has you more than covered. In fact, it’s packed full of protein – almost 30g per serving! An incredible amount, mostly due to the nuts and halloumi cheese.
Secondly, if you’re looking to gain weight and muscle because you’re smashing it in the gym, the recipe has you covered there as well.
Adding a side to the meal, like brown rice, is a good way to get the calories and carbohydrates up. Naturally the protein levels stay high (or go even higher, thanks to the rice).
And finally, it’s easy to use this recipe to help with weight-loss, too. In fact, that’s how I first ate it – and loved it. And I still do.
Halloumi for weight-loss
To make this recipe suitable for weight-loss, we just need to do a couple of things. First, we don’t need a side with it. Nuts, cheese and peppers is already a balanced and filling meal.
Secondly, we cut down on the oil. In fact, we go from three tablespoons to one. We use half for the onion and pepper, and half for the halloumi.
It’s easy to make fried halloumi with less oil – it takes slightly longer to cook – but not much, and the flavour is still superb.
We also halve the nuts. This is where a lot of the fat and carbs come from, so let’s cut down on those just a little if we’re looking for weight-loss.
Halloumi for… fun
Of course, these are just suggestions. We love all types of fried halloumi, and this recipe, in our humble opinion, is a joy to eat in its own right.
There’s something very satisfying about the combo of crushed nuts and cheese, the soft peppers and the crunchy pomegranate seeds.
Talking of pomegranate seeds
It’s now really easy to get hold of frozen pomegranate seeds, which is exactly what we recommend for this recipe. They’re much easier to use without having to extract them yourself, and far less messy!
Of course, if you can’t find frozen ones then the regular ones are still just fine – or you can even skip the seeds in a pinch. The fried halloumi, nuts and peppers are the main ingredients.
Ingredients
- ½ cup brown rice
- 14 oz sweet peppers
- 5 oz halloumi cheese
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 medium onion
- 8 cashews
- 1.5 tbsp pomegranate seeds (frozen is easiest)
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp cumin, ground
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- 3 tbsp water
- Salt to taste
- ¼ bunch dill, fresh (dried also works)
Instructions
- Cook the rice according to packet instructions.
- Give the peppers a quick clean and dice into small pieces, removing the seeds.
- Thinly slice the onion into half-moon shapes, and start them frying in olive oil on a low heat until soft. Add the peppers after a couple of minutes. Fry for another five minutes. During frying you made need to add a little extra hot water if things start to stick. This is to keep the oil levels down.
- In the meantime, peel and dice or crush the garlic. Chop the cashews.
- Add the garlic to the pepper and onion mix and cook for another minute, stirring it together.
- Add the sugar and let it caramelise (go a bit brown and liquidy). Add a little water. Add the cinnamon, cumin and pomegranate seeds. Give it a good stir.
- Add the lemon juice, salt and cayenne pepper. Stir again.
- Remove from heat and put in bowl to the side.
- Slice the halloumi into strips and fry until browned on both sides. No oil necessary.
- Rip the dill (or use dried). When the halloumi is ready, place the pepper-onion mix onto plates and layer the halloumi on top. Garnish with the cashews and dill. That’s it, ready!
Looks delicious . When do you cook the peppers or are they the cooked sweet peppers in jars which are used here?
Hi Daniela, oh! I just realised that we switched to ‘paprika’ which is the German word for peppers. Oops, I’ll change it now :D. Yes, it really is delicious, I’m glad you like the look of it. Enjoy!
Thanks Dave . It’s on the meal plan for next week, really looking forward to it!
Happy to help, thanks for pointing it out. Ah great – then enjoy!! Yum 😀