All hail the mighty haloumi

New food obsession! Haloumi! I know it’s not 'new' and it’s certainly not new to me but for some reason this week it’s all I can think about! So on my way home from school on Monday I stopped off at The Suveran organic fruit and veg shop (as I do every Monday for my weekly groceries) and picked myself up some haloumi for dinner. Yeah I know it’s hardly a dinner food, but it was dinner time you see and I had to think of a way to incorporate it into my evening meal quick smart!

Its funny, my chef at TAFE always tries to drill into us the importance of balancing the foods on your plate. Making sure every flavour compliments the next and never over filling the ‘canvas’. I break every single one of those rules when I’m at home, and especially when I’m trying to satisfy a craving.

Exhibit A

This was my attempt to

a) satisfy my debilitating haloumi craving
b) Dose up on my steamed greens, especially Kale.
c) Make use of the half a freaking pumpkin I still have sitting in my fridge from when I thought it would be a great idea to try and store a whole pumpkin in my tiny refrigerator last week
d) Incorporate some grated turmeric, great for its anti inflammatory qualities – (which I am in much need of considering my stupidly hyper mobile hips and knees have been playing up lately!)

What do you think?

I cut the pumpkin up nice and chunky leaving the skin on for added flavour and fibre. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over it with a pinch of sea salt and whack it in the oven until it's nice and soft.

Broccoli, zucchini and kale get thrown in the steamer for about 10 min until the broccoli softens slightly and the kale wilts. I then toss it in olive oil and lemon juice.

The heavenly haloumi is best served hot and my new fave way to cook it is in a non stick pan with a drop of coconut oil. You could forgo the oil but it's makes it so crunchy that you'd be mad to.

Throw it all on a plate, drizzle some tahini over it and grate some fresh turmeric on top for an added anti inflammatory boost.

Delicious. 

Why is this good for me?

Well apart from the copious amount of goodness that oozes out of all of those green vegies, the haloumi itself although a cheese is relatively low in fat and calories. The pumpkin is full of vitamions C & E, beta - carotene and pottassium which all help ward of winter viruses protecting your immune system.

The tumeric in this dish is probably the winner in terms of health benefits. Here are few things you probably didn't know about the yellow root.

• It is a natural liver detoxifier
• It is a potent anti-inflammatory
• Known to aid fat metabolism and contribute to a healthy weight
• Has been used in Chinese Medicine for many years as an anti-deppressant
• It is a natural painkiller

Wow! Kinda makes you want to have it for breakfast hey? Well you can. If you grate it into your scrambled eggs in the morning not only does it enhance the creamy yellow colour of the yolks and give a beautiful earthy flavour it will also guarantee a healthy start to your day.