Sweet Potato and Halloumi Burger

Who doesn't love a good burger? But burgers don't have to be beef or even chicken - as my Burger recipe book with over 100 recipes shows. I made these when my boyfriend's mum came to dinner just before Christmas; she is vegetarian and I wanted to make something that would be different from the food we would be eating over Christmas. My mum and I - who are not vegetarians - really enjoyed these burgers too, while my boyfriend and dad had homemade beef burgers.

These burgers are soft -a little like fishcakes in texture - but as long as you are not expecting a firm burger like a beef burger, these are great.

To make three, you need:
200g sweet potatoes
100g broccoli
1 clove garlic, crushed
half a red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
100g halloumi cheese, grated
1 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
burger buns

 

Cook the sweet potato in a pan of salted water until tender, then add the broccoli for the last few minutes and cook until tender. Drain and mash both together.

Add the garlic, chilli, cheese and season with salt and pepper. Use your hands to shape the mixture into patties, coat in the flour, and put on a plate in the fridge for about an hour to firm up.

Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the burgers on both sides and serve in bread rolls.

These were tasty, low in fat and a good way to get some extra vegetables into your meals! In fact it Is so virtuous compared to a regular burger that I am sending this to the Spice Trail challenge as the theme this month is 'temple food'. The challenge is hosted by Vanesther at Bangers and Mash.

I'm also sending this to Eat Your Greens, hosted by Shaheen at Allotment 2 Kitchen. The green vegetable in this is broccoli.

Shaheen also runs the Vegetable Palette challenge and this month the theme is any veg that you love - and I love broccoli and sweet potato!

Extra Veg, a challenge aimed at getting us to eat an extra portion of veg, is hosted by Kerry Cooks this month, on behalf of Helen at Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle at Utterly Scrummy.

National Spam Appreciation Week - Spam and Halloumi Kebabs

As I already mentioned in an earlier post, I was sent some Spam to review ahead of National Spam Appreciation Week. I had a look at the Spam website for some recipes and thought the recipe for spam and halloumi kebabs sounded nice. I adapted it to make a honey and balsamic vinegar rather than chilli dressing and put a few different things on my kebabs with the Spam and halloumi cheese. 

These are very simple to make and you can use whatever ingredients you fancy, such as red or green peppers, mushrooms etc. I began by chopping the Spam into cubes.

 

I also chopped some halloumi and red onion, and par boiled some new potatoes.

To make the dressing, I mixed 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar with 1 tbsp runny honey.

Thread the Spam, halloumi, red onion and potato - or whatever you are using - onto cubes and pour over the marinade. If you have time, you could also marinade the ingredients in the liquid for half an hour.

Grill, turning a couple of times, until the onion has browned and the cheese has softened a little. Serve with a green salad or pitta bread.

These kebabs were very enjoyable and the Spam went well with the halloumi cheese, and the saltiness of the cheese contrasted perfectly with the sweeter dressing.

Grilled or barbecued halloumi with chilli

 My boyfriend's family has fantastic barbecues as they get all the meat from a local butcher and his mum puts a lot of effort into making salads and side dishes. They had a barbecue recently where I knew I wouldn't be able to prepare much food to bring along, as I was coming straight from a choir rehearsal that had taken up most of the day. I wanted something that was quick to prepare and easy to transport, but that would be a little different - so I hit upon the idea of grilled halloumi. I was sure I had seen it prepared with chilli, and found this recipe from Nigella Lawson, which appears in Nigella Bites.

She recommends using 2 tbsp chopped fresh chilli, but I wanted to try out this product I had recently found in the supermarket, aptly labelled "Very Lazy". It contains chopped chilli in white wine vinegar, though the vinegar evaporates while cooking.

Simply mix the chilli with a little olive oil and lemon juice, and leave the flavours to deepen. I sliced the halloumi and put it on foil; even with the foil the barbecue seared lines into the cheese which I think looks great. To serve, just spoon the chilli mixture over the cheese.

The halloumi is on this plate somewhere... along with everything else! Now this is what I call a posh barbecue - not a sausage or burger in sight!

I'm sending this to Four Seasons Food, as their theme this month is barbecue. The challenge is hosted by Louisa at Chez Foti and Anneli at Delicieux.

I'm also sending this to Forever Nigella, hosted this month by Victoria at A Kick at the Pantry Door and created by Sarah at Maison Cupcake. The theme this month is party food and a barbecue definitely comes under the category of a summer party (and of course the recipe I used was from Nigella).