This is one of my favorite salads to eat as a meal. The colors and flavors of this salad are just amazing- sweetness from the sweet potatoes, freshness from the tomatoes, creaminess from the halloumi cheese and avocadoes all comes together perfectly with a spicy olive oil and lime dressing.
I absolutely love sweet potatoes and you will be seeing a lot of sweet potatoes recipes coming from me. It is rich in anti oxidants, fiber, vitamins and minerals and almost the perfect vegetable, so I try to use it every opportunity I get! Roasted sweet potatoes have a crispy caramelized exterior and soft interior.
With vegetables like Sweet potatoes and avocadoes, this salad is very filling to eat as a meal but you can also serve smaller portions as a side dish. I have had this salad slightly warm, room temperature and cold out of the refrigerator and it tastes great every time!
Halloumi is a semi-soft cheese from the country of Cyprus. Because it warms up nicely without melting, it is perfect for grilling and is used a lot in vegetarian grilling recipes. As for the flavor, it is tangy and salty. The closest cheese I could compare it to for texture is the Indian paneer, but paneer does not have the flavor of the halloumi. Trader Joe’s sells halloumi for a very reasonable price, but I have seen more expensive ones at mostly all the grocery stores I visit. In this salad, a little goes a long way and you only need 1 oz per serving, so please try halloumi if you haven’t already!
The main steps to make this salad are:
Roasting the Sweet Potatoes and Onions
Prepping the other vegetables- Avocado and Cherry tomatoes, Cilantro
Cooking the Halloumi Cheese
Making the dressing
When I make it, I typically roast extra sweet potatoes and onions and make extra dressing in a mason jar. For lunch, the rest of the week, I just have to chop the avocadoes, cherry tomatoes and cilantro and sauté a few pieces of halloumi cheese. Lunch comes together in less than 10 minutes.
So make this salad soon and be dazzled by its flavors!
Sweet Potato and Halloumi Salad
A hearty Salad with sweet potatoes and Halloumi cheese
4
servings20
minutes25
minutesIngredients
3 medium Sweet potatoes
1/2 Red onion
2 small Avocadoes
1 cup Cherry tomatoes
4 ounces Halloumi cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
salt and pepper, to taste
- Dressing
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2-3 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon green chili, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel and cut the sweet potatoes in ½ inch dice. Cut the onion in ½ inch wedges. Arrange the vegetable on a cookie sheet and drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle salt and pepper. Mix it with your clean hands to coat it completely and arrange it in a single layer. Roast it in the oven for 20-25 minutes, turning the vegetables once in between, till the sweet potatoes are tender and have some color.
- While the vegetables are in the oven, prepare the dressing by mixing all the ingredients in a mason jar. Shake vigorously till the ingredients are combined and set aside.
- Cut the halloumi cheese in ½ inch dice. Heat a non-stick pan and put the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Cook the halloumi cheese in hot oil turning it once or twice for 1-2 minutes till the cheese has a nice color on most of its sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Cut the avocado in ½ inch dice and halve the cherry tomatoes.
- You can make the salad in a large bowl or make it individually in each serving bowl. Combine the warm roasted sweet potatoes and onion, avocado, halved cherry tomatoes and halloumi cheese in a bowl. Drizzle with the dressing and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Toss the ingredients and adjust salt and pepper as needed.
Tips
- You can make this salad vegan by replacing halloumi cheese with extra firm tofu.
