Marinated & Grilled Barbeque Halloumi Cheese and Vegetable Skewers with Fig Spread and Pitas

This weekend, I went back “home” to Chicagoland to chill out with my mom. Who, as a very notable side note, is an excellent cook.

In fact, Mom spearheaded two distinct phases in our family’s eating habits. (1) The “health food” stage. And (2), the “French food” stage. The health food stage featured 1980’s health classics like carob, wheat germ, and apple juice concentrate. Once a week we either had stir fry (every imaginable vegetable and legume in a tamari sauce) OR we had vegetable soup (every imaginable vegetable and legume in a tomato broth base.) Probably not the most inspired recipes (sorry mom) but she sure had us kids eating our veggies because we were big eaters and too competitive to starve. And then, sometime in my early grade school years, seemingly by a single chime of the dining room clock, the bulgur was whisked away and wine and butter glazed meats, potatoes and casseroles arrived from the kitchen, shimmering with globules of fat. We’re talking Coq au Vin, Chicken with Tarragon Cream Sauce, Filet Mignon with Sauce Béarnaise. Soufflés. Tarts. Oeufs. Pommes. And beurre, beurre, beurre.

To sum up my gustatory walk down memory lane, I guess what I’m trying to say is that I’m thankful for being able to experience the granolaest of granola, and the most gourmand of gourmet. Thanks Mom- you really spoiled my palate and I’m still trying to translate your French/Midwest deliciousness into healthy vegetarian recipes.

This weekend we made a backyard bbq recipe that I think is a notch or two above the veggie burger & veggie dog summer bbq choices. These skewers are interesting, easy, flexible, farmers-market friendly and tasty enough to serve to any non-vegetarians.

If you’re asking, “What the h-e-double-hockey-sticks IS halloumi?” let me answer: it’s cheese. It’s cheese that you can grill. Without melting. In fact, it gets some rather pleasant “charred” areas when barbequed. Delicious! If you want to know more, check out the halloumi wiki. Note: some brands of halloumi cheese are easier to grill than others that tend to melt a little more. If you’re new at cheese grilling, grill on a separate skewer or with fast-cooking vegetables like cherry tomatoes to test out before cooking with longer-cooking vegetables like peppers.

Serves: 5 to 6
Time: 10 – 20 minutes for each batch of skewers you can fit on the grill

Halloumi and Vegetable Skewers

20 or so ounces of halloumi cheese (can find in a well stocked supermarket or Mediterranean specialty store)
Please note the below vegetables can be substituted for others - as with all vanesscipes, this is merely a suggestion. Get whatever looks freshest and best.
2 red bell peppers
1 green pepper
2 zucchini
2 yellow squash
2 red or sweet onions
cherry tomatoes or quartered large tomatoes
thin wooden skewers

Make the marinade below. Soak the wooden skewers in water. Cut the veggies and cheese into equal-size chunks about 2 inches and store in the marinade below. Assemble the skewers and grill each about 10 – 20 minutes each or until starting to char at the edges.

Marinade

1/2 cup of good olive oil
juice of 1 lemon
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup of red wine or balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp salt

Throw the above in a Tupperware and shake! (or mix with a spoon in a large bowl)

To Serve

Pita bread
Fig spread or jam (also available at large supermarkets or Mediterranean specialty stores)
As a substitute for fig spread, you could use hummus, and/or baba ganoush. Actually, get some anyway, because leftover grilled vegetables make with hummus or baba make an excellent sandwich.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 9th, 2006 at 9:02 pm and is filed under Sandwiches, Summer, Barbeque. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.