Open-Faced Halloumi Sandwich
It's recipe time!
On my last blog, I talked about the changes in my life and the new season my husband and I are on together. It's been such a crazy year with it's ups and downs, but I think one of the best things about this year, other than getting married, is Simon and I having our very own kitchen to cook in.
I know, having a kitchen sounds silly... but there are so many studio flats in Reykjavik that don't have full kitchens. We were lucky enough to find our one bedroom just outside of the downtown area.
So, I decided to kick my food blogs off again with one of my favoriteeee dishes:
An Open-faced Marinated Halloumi sandwich.
I don't know about you, but I have a deep deep deep love for Halloumi cheese. The taste is just so subtle yet has so much flavor at the same time. Living in Reykjavik, my husband and I have to cook a lot in order to save money, but we learned how fun cooking can actually be and it doesn't have to be so time consuming.
I found this recipe originally through an old vegetarian cook book that I took on and made my own.
Open-faced Halloumi Sandwich:
Serves 4
Prep Time: 15 mins + Overnight for best flavours
Cook Time: 20 mins
What you'll need:
. 400G of Halloumi cheese - cut into length sizes
. 250G of Cherry Tomatoes - cut in half
. 250G of Yellow/Red Bell Pepper - cut in lengths or chopped
. 2 Cloves of Garlic - minced
. 1/2 yellow onion - chopped
. 2 tablespoons of Balsamic Vinegar
. 1 Lemon
. Fresh Thyme
. Olive Oil
. Sea Salt/Arctic Thyme Salt (Salt explained after instructions)
. Black Pepper
. Sourdough or whole grain bread
Now, this recipe can be cheap if you already have some of the ingredients like Balsamic Vinegar, Olive oil, and thyme. If you have to buy those items, just remember that the price of this recipe will be more pricy, but those items you buy will last a long time. My husband and I still have Balsamic vinegar after purchasing it almost a year ago and we are always using olive oil, so if you have to purchase some of the items, they are good investments.
1. Place the haloumi, cherry tomatoes, and bell peppers in a nonmetallic dish. Whisk together the minced garlic, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, thyme, olive oil, and a pinch of sea salt or a pinch of arctic thyme salt in a jug and pour over the halloumi and vegetables. Now for the best flavour, I recommend letting the halloumi marinate for a few hours or over night. If you don't have time, it is totally ok to mix it all in and use it straight away.
2. Heat some olive oil or coconut oil in a large frying pan. Add onion and let it sauté. Next, add in the halloumi in batches and begin frying the cheese on both sides till golden brown.
3. When the halloumi is cooked, leave it on the side and begin cooking the tomatoes and bell peppers without adding any of the marinade. Cook at a medium heat till the tomatoes soften. This could take about 5-10 mins. The peppers are best with more crunch so if they don't cook all the way that is ok.
4. Toast the bread and slowly pour half of the marinade on top of the bread slices. Place the halloumi evenly on the bread slices and add the tomatoes and peppers. Top it off with some fresh thyme, salt & pepper, and the rest of the marinade.
5. Have a nice salad on the side with some fresh olive oil and serve immediately.
What is Arctic Thyme Salt Anyway?
Yes, an amazing Icelandic ingredient. Believe it or not, Iceland has some of the best salt and most is handcrafted. In this dish, I really like using the Icelandic ingredient, Arctic Thyme salt. Since Thyme is a main flavour for this dish, using the Arctic Thyme adds just the perfect mix. I try not to add too much as it is quite strong. I add just a pinch or two, and then flavour the rest with real Thyme. Regular Sea salt works just fine of course, but if you are ever in Iceland I highly recommend buying some SALTVERK sea salt. It is sustainable and handcrafted sea salt straight from the West Fjords. They have a huge variety including lava salt, licorice salt, birch smoked salt, and of course normal flakey salt. It can be found in most shops downtown Reykjavik.
There you have it, a simple to do yet incredibly delicious meal that can last for two days between two people. What Simon and I have done in the past, is we cook it in two batches and have one right away and let one batch marinade over night for dinner the next day.
I can't begin to tell you how delicious this meal is and how cheap it can be. The most expensive part of this meal is the halloumi. In Iceland, the price of cheese has skyrocketed so we don't cook this meal as much as we would like, but luckily, halloumi is so filling and is quite large so just buying one or two packets of it will last us for 2-3 days. This meal is also easy to double as you just need to stock up on the vegetables and cheese and you can than have it for another 2 days.
If you do decide to try this recipe out please send me photos of the results as I would love to see how it turned out. Tell me if you added a new ingredient, substituted anything, or something you left out. I would love to hear how everyone liked it.
That's it for now. Next week, I will be in Italy with my husband exploring the Italian Rivera. I am so excited and I cannot wait to share my experience with you all. I am hoping to learn some new pasta recipes while I'm there along with the must sees of Italy. I haven't travelled like this in a long time so I am incredibly excited. Stay tuned, I hope to have my next blog out in 1-2 weeks.
