Fried Halloumi Recipe with Tomatillo Salsa

Crispy polenta halloumi with tomatillo salsa

Preparation and cooking time
- Total time40 mins
Easy
Serves 4

Ingredients

1 red onion, finely sliced
1 lime, juiced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp hot chilli powder
4 tbsp greek yogurt
75g polenta
1 block halloumi, sliced
for frying vegetable oil
2 Little Gems, cut into chunky pieces
1 avocado, sliced
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
½ 400g tin black beans, drained and rinsed

TOMATILLO SALSA

312g tin tomatillos, drained (see notes below)
½ onion, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
2 limes, zested and juiced
½ a small bunch coriander, stalks chopped (keep the leaves to serve)

Method

STEP 1
Put the sliced onion into a bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes, then drain well. Tip back into a bowl, add the lime juice and some seasoning, mix really well and leave to marinate while you make the salad, tossing every now and again.
STEP 2
For the salsa, put all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
STEP 3
In a small bowl, whisk together the spices with the yogurt, 1 tbsp of cold water and some seasoning, and put the polenta onto a plate. Take each slice of halloumi and coat in the spiced yogurt, then coat thoroughly in the polenta. Repeat with the remaining halloumi.
STEP 4
Heat 2cm of vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Fry the halloumi slices for 2-3 minutes on each side until deeply golden.
STEP 5
Toss the Little Gems, avocado and tomatoes with ¹/3 of the salsa, then tip onto a serving platter. Add the black beans, halloumi, pickled onions and coriander leaves, and spoon over more salsa.