Spicy green goddess sandwich with grilled halloumi
Oh hi there. I’m back with even more vegetables. But this time they’re teamed with glorious halloumi cheese and stuffed into a healthy, wholesome seed roll. It’s like a little party involving all my favourite things.
I’ve mentioned it before and I’ll mention it again. I make a mean sandwich. And let’s face it, making a good sandwich isn’t exactly hard but there is a little thinking that goes into creating a really kick-ass one. I love a good ham & cheese as much as the next person but there are a few things all good sandwich-makers do that take their sandwiches from good to freakin’ great! Flavour is of course the first priority but texture is equally important. For me, the perfect sandwich involves creamy, crunchy, soft and something with a little bite. The “bite” usually comes from protein in its many forms. Roasted chicken breast, grilled bacon or rare roast beef are all great. For me, that bite came from the beauty that is halloumi cheese. Man, I love halloumi. Perhaps a little too much, if ever there was such a thing. I just can’t get enough of its milky-saltiness and the way it squeaks when you bite into it. I have been known to eat the hot, grilled halloumi straight out of the pan, perhaps quickly dunked into some chilli-ginger jam but I resisted here and stuffed the hot slabs of cheese into a sandwich.
I felt like the seeded bread roll with its generous amount of seeds along with the crisp lettuce gave me enough of the crunch I was looking for so all that was left was to add something creamy. In my mind, there is no better creamy element in any sandwich than a perfectly ripe avocado. Mine was a little over ripe and had turned into more of a mellow yellow colour than the creamy green I usually prefer but the taste was still spot on. I blended the avocado with a little jalapeño, a handful of micro herbs and a good squeeze of lemon juice. This luscious green spread gave the sandwich all the creaminess it needed as well as balancing the milky cheese with the acidity from the lemon.
Jeepers, that is probably the most over-explained sandwich of all times but you get my drift. This is seriously good stuff and will take your lunch from blah to brilliant in an instant.
Ingredients
for the avocado
- 1 ripe avocado
- 1/2 jalapeño roughly chopped (seeds removed if you prefer it less hot)
- 2 tablespoons micro herbs
- lemon juice to taste
- salt & pepper to taste
for the sandwich
- 2 wholewheat seed rolls halved
- 250 g halloumi sliced into 1.5cm slices
- lettuce leaves
Instructions
- To make the avocado spread, combine all the ingredients in a small food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.
- Grill the halloumi in a hot griddle pan until golden brown on both sides and heated through.
- To serve, spread the avocado onto the halved seed rolls then top with the halloumi and lettuce and serve.
