Description
Grilled halloumi, roasted sweet potato and fresh greens on a bed of quinoa, paired with toasted pine nuts and basil dressing
Ingredients
- 2–3 sweet potatoes, washed and cubed into 1.5” pieces
- 1 heaped tsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 8–9oz block halloumi, sliced into 1/4“
- arugula – small handful per portion
- 3/4 cup walnuts
- organic quinoa, rinsed
- salt and pepper
- 1 avocado, quartered and cubed
Dressing
- 2 sprigs basil (two handfuls of leaves only)
- 1/4 olive oil
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 1tsp honey
- 1/2 lemon
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Wash and dice your sweet potato, and pop it into a large mixing bowl. Add the paprika, sugar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Give it a good mix and put it into a pre-heated air fryer on 365 deg F for about 35/40 minutes – stirring in-between. The sweet potato should be soft and lightly darkened on the edges once cooked.
- While your sweet potato is cooking, prepare all other elements. Rinse and portion out your quinoa, and cook on the stovetop according to packet instructions. Set aside once soft.
- While the quinoa cooks, toast your walnuts in a large frying pan on a high heat for a few minutes, tossing regularly until they smell delicious and start to get some color. Set aside.
- In the same pan, on a medium/high heat, fry your sliced halloumi for a couple of minutes each side – sides should be beautifully browned once ready. I spray a little coconut oil in the pan before frying. Once done and slightly cooled, slice into quarters.
- In a blender, blitz all ingredients for the dressing, adjusting salt to taste.
- At this stage, your butternut will be almost ready, so prep your final pieces. Portion out the arugula, slice up your avocado, and roughly chop the walnuts.
- To serve, portion out the quinoa and arugula into shallow bowls. Add the butternut, halloumi, avocado and walnuts, topping with the basil dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
Sweet potato – I LOVE sweet potato, so I tend to go this route more often than not. However if you prefer butternut or any kind of squash, feel free to sub it, bearing in mind sweet potato or butternut will be the best ‘sweet’ options to go for!
Greens – I have used arugula as the ‘salad’ element to this dish, but it’s not everyones cup of tea. Go with baby spinach or watercress as an alternative. As for the avocado, this is optional to include or not!
Grain – I have gone with quinoa for this meal as it’s naturally GF and super easy to make. If you prefer something else, try to go for a wholegrain to keep this healthy! Barley would be a great substitute, or brown/wild rice! Couscous is always another option, however this is not GF and probably the least healthy route – I didn’t actually know this before, but couscous is just tiny balls of pasta, its wheat!
Nuts – when it comes to nuts.. go nuts (insert Dad joke)! But really, any nuts you have can work, just toast them for a few minutes and they’ll be a delicious addition! My favorite kinds for these bowls are pine nuts, walnuts, and almonds, but it’s totally up to you.
Halloumi – I’m a big fan of halloumi, but don’t eat it often as my diet is mostly dairy free.. so this was a treat! If you are on the stricter side and need this to be dairy free/vegan, use extra firm tofu, it’ll work really well in this dish.
- Category: Lunch/Dinner
- Method: Stovetop