Introducing my latest food obsession: crispy shredded halloumi. Grate it, pan fry until golden, then shower over everything for instant crunch, salt and serious cheesy goodness! Today in this Halloumi Salad, we’re showering kale. Great as a side, or top with a soft-boiled egg for a satisfying, veg loaded meal.
Crispy Shredded Halloumi!
If you’ve never shredded and pan fried halloumi before, it is time to discover this magic!!! It’s a crispy, golden, cheesy, salty rubble that reminds me of pangrattato – but better, because it’s 100% cheese. 😉
I see so many uses for it in my future – on pastas, soups, roasted veg, hmm, I wonder if it would be too much to top my Mac and Cheese with it….. 🤔😈 And because it stays crispy for days, you can make a batch and keep it in the fridge for days, ready to sprinkle on everything!
Another Spoon Salad
In today’s recipe, I’m turning something pretty virtuous into something exponentially more exciting using the crispy halloumi crumbs – a kale salad. 🙂 It has a surprising amount of kale in it – 5 big leaves – plus rice. The chewy grains go really well with the crispy halloumi bits, I find. I tried other things like chickpeas and quinoa, and didn’t think it was as good, the crispiness of the halloumi gets lost.
I like to chop the kale up into small pieces so it jumbles up nicely with everything else (rice, red onion, pine nuts and the halloumi crumbs) to make a big salad that can be eaten with a spoon where you get a bit of everything in every bite. I call these Spoon Salads and I’m fond of them – like this one, this one and this one. I like the eating convenience :).
Ingredients in Crispy Shredded Halloumi Salad
Here’s what you need to make this. The rice fills this out to make it a meal-worthy salad or a handy 2-in-1 side dish (ie veg plus starch in one dish), but you can switch that with another starch of choice if you like, I’ve listed some suggestions below.
Halloumi – A firm, brined cheese from the Mediterranean island of Cyprus that’s famous for holding its shape when cooked instead of melting. It develops a crisp golden crust while staying chewy inside, and it’s so delicious, everybody wants to eat it straight out of the pan, plain! It’s pretty widely available these days, available at regular grocery stores.
Look for halloumi with “PDO” on the packet label (Protected Designation of Origin). This is a mark of excellence that proves a products’ quality and cannot be used on any product made outside of Cyprus. I get Alambra and Dodoni brands.
Cooked rice – I use long grain white rice, but feel free to use any rice you want, whether it’s white, brown, black, wild rice (use directions in this recipe) or even quinoa, farro, freekah or other grains. I wasn’t the hugest fan of using chickpeas – I think the “meatiness” of the chickpeas takes over and makes the halloumi seem much less crispy than it actually is. I think the same would apply to other beans.
Kale – I use curly kale here, but it would be great with cavolo nero / lacinto kale too. Baby spinach and English spinach would also be great, and I think rocket lettuce (arugula) would work nicely too.
Dill (or parsley) – Adding a fresh herby element to this salad is lovely. My favourite is dill – it makes it a little more special – but parsley is also great. If you don’t have any fresh herbs, it is still worth making! Try adding a bit of dried herb into the dressing – oregano would be nice.
Pinenuts (or slivered almonds) – This is optional but, like the herbs, it definitely takes it up a notch to have toasty nuttiness littered throughout this salad. Pinenuts is my first choice but slivered almonds would also be great, I think!
Red onion – This is to add a bit of freshness into the salad. You could also use finely sliced green onion.
garlic apple Cider vinegar dressing
Spoon salads like this that have lots of little bits have lots of surface area to coat, so you need more dressing than usual. To keep the amount of oil in check (I use 1/3 cup – already more than I’d use for a typical salad of this size), I use a few of my go-to tricks: honey, dijon, and apple cider vinegar (explained below).
Honey – Just 1 teaspoon of honey to take the sharp edge off the vinegar so I can reduce the usual vinegar-to-oil ratio from 1:3 to 1:2.
Dijon mustard – Just a smidge (literally, 1/2 teaspoon) thickens the dressing so it clings to everything without relying on extra oil. If you don’t have Dijon, any other non-spicy smooth mustard will work just fine, you can’t taste it.
Apple cider vinegar – This is a little less sharp than some other vinegars so you can use a higher vinegar to oil ratio than some other vinegars without making the dressing lip-puckeringly sour. White or red wine vinegar make good substitutes. If using lemon juice or regular vinegar, you’ll need a little more oil to take the tang off.
Salt and pepper – For seasoning. The dressing only uses 1/4 teaspoon of salt as it gets plenty of salt from the halloumi than jumbles all throughout the salad.
Garlic – Because, garlic! Make the dressing first to give the garlic flavour time to blend into the dressing.
How to make Crispy Shredded Halloumi Salad
The halloumi will feel a little more bouncy rather than crispy when it’s hot out of the pan, but it crisps up substantially as it cools. You can even refrigerate overnight and it stays fully crispy, making this salad a great one for work lunches!
Dressing first – Shake the Dressing ingredients in a jar until the honey is fully mixed in. Set aside to let the garlic meld while you make the rest of the salad.
Shred the halloumi using a standard box grater. Some brands of halloumi might crumble which is fine, just use your hands to crumble larger clumps into smaller pieces, or gather and grate. I leave them on the cutting board rather than transferring into a bowl to minimise handling as they are quite fragile at this stage.
Toast pine nuts – In a large non-stick fry pan (skillet), toast the pine nuts over medium heat for 3 minutes or until they have golden spots. Immediately transfer into a bowl and leave to cool.
Make the halloumi crumbs – Put the same pan back on the stove and turn it up to medium high. Add the olive oil, and once hot, scrape the shredded halloumi in and stir to spread them around. At first, they will go watery but then once the water evaporates, they will start to go golden. Stir every now and then at first, but once the water evaporates, you want to stir regularly to encourage even colouring.
Golden crispy halloumi – The halloumi crumbs are ready when they’re mostly golden to deep golden (there will still be white bits on the halloumi). Don’t let them go brown, we want golden! Transfer them immediately into a bowl. While hot they won’t seem very crispy, but they get crispier as they cool and they also darken a bit more, they only need a few minutes while you dress the kale.
The larger bits will have a nice bit of chew on the inside while the smaller bits (especially the powdery type) will be fully crisp all the way through.
Dress and massage kale – Put the kale and red onion in a bowl, pour over about 2 tablespoons of Dressing then use your hands to massage and scrunch the kale, coating all the leaves with the Dressing. In this step, we are also softening the kale leaves, so don’t hold back, scrunch boldly!
Toss – Add the rice, dill, most of the pine nuts (reserve a few for topping) and remaining Dressing. Toss very well.
Plate up – Spread out in a wide, shallow bowl (we want lots of surface area to cover with crispy halloumi!). Sprinkle the surface all over with the crispy halloumi and remaining pine nuts. Serve!
Warm or room temperature, or meal prep!
I’ve tried this both warm and at room temperature and enjoyed it both ways, which makes me happy because that means it’s a great all-seasons dish. To serve it warm, add warm rather than cooled rice. You can even pop the whole salad in the microwave for a bit (before topping with halloumi, after dressing) – this is what I did.
As for meal prepping – the crispy halloumi stays crisp for days, how good is that!! Not on the salad, but in a separate container. So I’ve popped meal prepping directions in the recipe notes. It’s such a great one! Take it into work for lunch. Tell your co-workers to hush as your shower your salad with the crispy halloumi crumbs so they can hear the clatter as they fall! 😂 – Nagi x
PS Oh, I meant to mention – as pictured above, if you pop a soft boiled egg on top, then you’ve got a protein hit as well which makes this a lovely wholesome, well rounded veg-starch-protein dinner. #WellnessQueen
Watch how to make it
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Crispy Shredded Halloumi Salad (with kale)
Ingredients
- 225g/ 7.9oz halloumi , shredded using a box grater (Note 1)
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup pine nuts (or slivered almonds)
- 5 tightly packed cups kale leaves , chopped into ~1 – 1.5cm/ 0.4 – 0.6″ pieces (Note 2)
- 1/4 red onion , very finely sliced then roughly chopped (~1/4 cup), or green onion finely sliced
- 1/4 cup roughly chopped dill (or parsley)
- 3 cups cooked white rice (1 cup uncooked rice grains), or brown rice or quinoa, warm or cooled
Dressing:
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup extra virgin oil olive oil
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 garlic clove , finely grated or crushed using garlic crusher
- 1/4 tsp heaped cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, +50% for flakes)
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
Optional protein addition
- Soft boiled egg , halved (Note 3)
Instructions
- Dressing – Put the ingredients in a jar and shake well until combined. Set aside to let the garlic flavour meld.
- Toast pine nuts – Heat a large-non stick fry pan over medium heat, no oil. Add the pine nuts and stir regularly for 3 minutes or until they have light brown spots. Remove into a bowl. (Note 4 for oven method)
- Crispy shredded halloumi – Return the pan to the stove and heat the olive oil on high. Cook the shredded halloumi for 5 minutes until most of is golden or deep golden, not brown, lowering the heat to medium high if patches brown too quickly. Transfer into a bowl while you dress the kale. They will crisp up even more as they cool.
Assemble salad:
- Scrunch and dress kale – Place the kale and red onion in a bowl. Pour over about 2 tablespoons of the Dressing then use your hands to massage it into the kale leaves. Scrunch boldy – kale can take it!
- Toss – Add the rice, dill, most of the pine nuts and remaining Dressing. Toss well.
- Plate up – Spread the salad in a wide shallow serving bowl (for maximum sprinkling surface area!). Cover the surface wtih the crispy halloumi and remaining pine nuts. You could also do this in individual bowls. Serve!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
More kale salads
I thought I had more…. 😔
More ways with halloumi
Alarmingly small collection for a cheese I declare to love so much! This must be rectified… 🙂
Life of Jaffle
From somewhere up in the Big Sky Kitchen, Dozer is yelling, “JAFFLE! Leave the kale! Trust me, mum makes much better things than that!” 😆
Honestly, I couldn’t believe it, he munched through all the leaves then ran off with the stem like it was a precious juicy bone….
….and munched his way through the entire stalk.
I’m not worried though. Once his puppy tum can handle more human food and he experiences roast chicken, brisket, pulled pork and crispy skin salmon, kale won’t stand chance. Right Dozer?? 😂
Look at all those Kale crumbs! I am not a fan of raw kale, but I love it in soup. My favorite copy-cat recipe for Olive Garden’s Zuppa Tuscana has kale and it’s delicious.
Zuppa Toscana is one of my favourites!!! – N x
WHO ON EARTH LIKES KALE???
GOOD ON YOU DOZER!!! POOR JAFFLE!!!!!
I love kale
HA HA this comment would make Dozer’s day!! 😂
I can’t eat kale. Other than spinach could you use chard?
Yes! Chard would be great! – N x
Sounds fabulous! With the high cost of pine nuts I will use roasted chickpeas.
Also quinoa.
Roasted chickpeas and quinoa would both work great, Meg! Love a recipe that can flex with what’s in the pantry 😂 – N x PS Pinenuts tip – if you can get top a Persian / Middle Eastern area the grocery stores sell pine nuts considerably cheaper than grocery stores and better quality too 🙂
You are so creative Nagi this recipe sounds so good! Can’t wait to try it and will even make my own Haloumi in my Thermomix.
PS my two cavaliers love kale , cauliflower stalks and any veggie you can mention!
Jaffle is totally gorgeous!
Homemade halloumi!! Now that’s next level 😮 And your cavaliers clearly have much more sophisticated palates than Dozer 😂 – N x
Please don’t discard kale stems. Chop them up in small pieces, bag and freeze. They can be added to soups, stews, or curries. Personally, I also like them atop pizza when chopped thinly.
Love that idea, Rose! Always good to find another use for veggie scraps 😊 – N x
This was FABULOUS! I have a heap of Cavolo Nero growing in my yard and I keep putting off using it, but this recipe dropped at the perfect time today and this made a wonderful side dish – hubby and girls loved it. I went with slivered almonds… what a fantastic blend of flavour and texture. The right amount of nuttiness and saltiness. Never have I thought of grating and frying haloumi… such a great option for a salad add in! I’ll be hitting the veggie patch again for this very soon… thank you Nagi.
Yay!! Love hearing this, especially with homegrown cavolo nero! And slivered almonds sound like a great swap. So glad the whole family enjoyed it! – N x
I’m not sure I could eat raw Kale. My daughter who doesn’t eat a lot of veg, likes to roast kale with a bit of olive oil and five minutes in the oven. We all love it cooked like that now. Would that work in this recipe?
Give it a good scrunch and 30 minutes (or longer, I eat leftovers the next day) rest to soak up dressing; and raw kale will taste really enjoyable and most importantly tender. Before that it’s rabbit or apparently puppy food ;). I too was a skeptic. I found a good scrunch (very quick) and marinating time is your friend
Give it a good scrunch and 30 minutes (or longer, I eat leftovers the next day) rest to soak up dressing; and raw kale will taste really enjoyable and most importantly tender. Before that it’s rabbit or apparently puppy food ;). I too was a skeptic. I found a good scrunch (super quick) and marinating time is your friend
Good morning Tasneem! The massaging of the kale with the dressing softens it and adds flavour, I promise it makes all the difference. 🙂 Give it a go!! – N xx
Never had kale before, but this sounds like kale was made for it. Ditto for halloumi; I’ve always wanted to try it, and this sounds irresistible (like Jaffle)! But my choice of herbs has dill lower down on my list, and I’m more likely to use dried tarragon or dried mint. And then there’s the honey … it’s just too darn sweet for me, so I usually sub pomegranate molasses. I like ACV so much that I drink it straight, but here I’m tempted to try pomegranate vinegar. Definitely Lemon EVOO in the dressing, but perhaps Roasted Garlic EVOO for crisping the halloumi crumbles. I’ll use either wild rice or farro for the chew, and pinenuts are non-negotiable. A big spoon, too! While a soft-boiled egg would be good, I really really like a poached egg here, I can’t resist changing a recipe to fit my preferred flavor profile, Nagi, but if this salad gets me to like kale, then it’s a win-win!
Haha I think this might end up being your own recipe by the time you’re done with it! 😂 I love how you’ve thought it through. Hope halloumi wins you over as much as kale! – N x
Hi Nagi. Looks so yummy. Watched the video and didn’t see the eggs being added to the salad. Guess they are chopped or maybe quartered and added along with everything else? Jaffles gives me my doggie fix and will enjoy watching Jaffles grow up. Still miss Dozer so much.
The photo just above “ Warm or room temperature, or meal prep!” shows the soft boiled egg cut in half at the side of the salad.
Thanks Wendy
Thanks for stepping in Wendy!! – N xx
I miss him too 😢
Hello Nagi ! I love kale and thanks to you I learned to massage it a long time ago 👍! I never tried halloumi and never saw halloumi here on the island. Could I replace it by another cheese ?? Jaffle… a unique kale eater 😍!!
Haha yes, the kale massage lesson! 😂 Halloumi is pretty unique so there’s no perfect substitute, but I’d use crumbled feta or shaved parmesan if you can’t find it. And yes… Jaffle may be one of a kind! 😂 – N x
Leave out the kale and you’ve won me!
I think I’ll try with baby spinach or broccoli, sounds delicious 😊
Actually, chopped up broccoli was my other alternative here 🙂 It’s fabulous! – N x
As you are well aware, Jaffle is supremely gorgeous ‼️ Another delicious meal ‼️ Thank you 🧡
He is VERY very naughty too! 😂
Another perfect recipe for our UK heatwave, thank you. Quinoa base for us & preserved lemons. Ps Jaffle, good boy for eating your veggies. Frozen brocoli is the UKs most beautiful golden retriever, Bailey’s favourite snack!
Preserved lemon! FABULOUS Samantha! – N xx
Another perfect recipe for our UK heatwave, thank you. Quinoa base for us & preserved lemons. Ps Jaffle, good boy for eating your veggies. Frozen brocoli is the UKs most beautiful golden retriever, Bailey’s favourite snack!
He’s a new age puppie – guy!
Hope his poop isn’t green!
Love this recipe – my favourite cheese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hahaha I can report everything remained the correct colour afterwards 😂 – N x
Wow this looks amazing. Using rice in a salad is kind of blowing my mind. I have to try this!
Rice salads are so underrated! 😂 Hope you give it a go, Kelly – N x
Yum. That looks delicious. I’ll be making that this week. More vegetarian recipes required! I made your Tuscan Chicken for my son last week and he loved it. Thanks Nagi and love to beautiful Jaffles.
Yay! Hope you love this one too. And I’m always working on more vegetarian recipes! Give Jaffle a cuddle from you 😂 – N x
Oh my, Nagi!
Your wee Jaffle is a doll!
I can see how he is growing already!
I truly still miss Sweet Dozer, but I need only to pull up your site or pull out your cookbook, and I get to ‘visit’ him! 💖
Coincidentally, I have been using Halloumi more often now, and you have given me one more great sounding recipe to try with it. Thank you!
A wee shop, and I’ll have a go at it!
Sending Love, Hugs, and Belly Rubs,
from
The Canadian Prairies
💞🤗🐕
He really is growing so fast already! 😂 And I’m glad Dozer’s still there to say hello in the cookbooks. Hope you enjoy this halloumi recipe too, Alex! – N x
This salad looks delicious…..now wasn’t an earlier photo of Jaffle trying kale 🥬 ? I reckon he was egged on then by Dozer ……a bit of rivalry 🤣💛🧡…..my ol Pixie gal adored carrots 🥕 they were her treat of choice
Hahaha yes!! I actually think Dozer might have been whispering “go on, give it a try…” just for a laugh 😂 Pixie clearly had much better taste – N x