Coconut milk, coriander and jalapeno marinated Halloumi with figs
I have had a fuzzy couple of weeks, but bizarrely there has been some good to come out of this fog.
I have been in limbo between throat infection and glandular fever. I, the immunity hero who only suffered a single bout of flu in 5 years (it ended up being swine flu) have been down with more illnesses in the last two years than in the first entire lifetime. I blame serious exhaustion.
I fell asleep on the sofa today, before lunchtime, for an entire 13 minutes. I know some of you are thinking, ‘I wish I could have a quick nap in the middle of the day’ but wait. I have been known to knock out when I am not supposed to. I have done in lectures, even the postgraduate ones that were being paid for by the workplace at the risk of it being fed back to my employers, but I blame Saturday lectures for that. I have fallen asleep in meetings at work, especially the ones about the IT infrastructure, even when it concerned my pricing policies, but I blame the dimly lit rooms for that. I have fallen asleep in the toilets at work (I closed the lid first) and have been late for meetings. Not much that I can blame for that one. It goes without saying that I have fallen asleep on the trains but surprisingly I have never missed my station.
But none of these badly-timed snoozing incidences have caused the chaos that 13 minutes in front of the telly, in my own living room caused today.
In the 13 minutes (with cartoons on the TV) my Tasmanian devil drew one the wall next to the bay window, tore up my recipe notes, emptied an entire kitchen cupboard onto the floor, filled up the tall kitchen bin with items that it certainly did not want to eat, unraveled two toilet rolls onto the cloakroom floor and every single toy car that my boy owns was strewn around the living room floor.
Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake. Stay awake.
Coconut is refreshing and quenching and smells so lifting and holiday like. I need a holiday, wonder if that will happen this lifetime? Coriander, green and renewing and with the jalapeno, it is so balanced. The fleshy figs are gentle and some say they are an aphrodisiac but clearly the mess-clearing isn’t, see…balance. If there is ever a ‘wake-up’ dish, it’s this one.
Ingredients to serve 2
A can of coconut milk
30g coriander, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. chopped jalapeno peppers
1 tsp. galangal puree
2 figs, sliced
About 200g Halloumi, cut into 8 slices
Method
- Blitz the coriander and jalapenos together and mix the puree with the coconut milk and the galangal
- Combine the spiced coconut milk with the sliced Halloumi and keep it in the fridge for a couple of hours
- Once marinated, place the Halloumi on a hot non-stick pan with roughly half the coconut milk mixture and cook until the juices have dried and the Halloumi has browned. Then flip the Halloumi over, add the other half of the spiced coconut milk and brown again
- Serve hot with the figs and some of the left over coconut milk paste as a dressing.
I am sharing this recipe with Lavendar and Lovage for the cooking with herbs challenge
I really hope that you are better now Deena ! I have fallen asleep between lectures :). This is a simple and very refreshing recipe :).
Thanks is much Sonal…still recovering. What were your lectures in? Now I’m on the other side of the lecture theatre, I hope nobody falls asleep in my lectures ! X
Deena, I admire your ability to blog with so much commitment when your hands are full with a mischievous toddler at home! This Halloumi recipe has a yummy combination.
Apsara, it all happens after my little one is asleep…which is probably when I should be sleeping in order for me not to fall ill! Thank you for your words of encouragement x
Aw, poor you! I didn’t know you were feeling rubbish, sweetie. You hide it well, as your awesomely tasty output of recipes over these weeks shows. I remember those early childhood days of sleep-deprivation through the mists of time. I seem to recall getting niggly, long lasting ailments – prolonged no doubt my lack of night-time sleep and my inability to take naps. Seize the nap! But maybe wait until he is at nursery ;-). And it goes without saying that this recipe – short, simple and flavours galore – speaks to me. Really very lovely and would go with lots of things too. Get well soon xx
Thanks so much Kellie. I suppose when there is a toddler to look after you pretty much have to soldier on eh? All these years people told me to not leave having kids so late, as the body doesn’t cope. Think I know what they all meant now!
I’m so glad that you like the recipe x
Lovely recipe Deena! Hope you will feel better soon that’s terrible to keep drifting in and out. Rope in that little devil, you don’t need that kind of additional stress. xox Karin
Thank you Karin, I’m hoping for a swift recovery as I have a busy few months ahead! X
Am I allowed to say I had a foodgasm at this. Seriously I did.
Ha! Bintu! You say the best things..thank you xx
OMG! He achieved all that in 13 minutes??!! Lovely recipe Deena ☺️
I know-he’s a storm Elaine! Thank you xx
I hope you’re feeling better!! I am a halloumi-loving fool, and this sounds fabulous!
Ha! I’m the fool too 😉 x
Hi Deena, love the recipe. How did you know, that there is a piece of Galangal lurking in my fridge and I had no idea what to do with it? Hope you are feeling better soon. N xxx
Thank you! Please let me know how you go if you do cook it xxx
Love the idea of marinating halloumi in coconut milk! This looks gorgeous 🙂
Thanks Becca, such a juicy mix of sensations x
What a match again! I’m waiting impatiently already for fig’s season to begin over here, too.
Thanks Claudia, when do you get figs over there? I picked up a batch of beautiful pink and wonderfully fragrances ones the other day x
We get them best, when main season in the Mediterranean starts (which is about second half of August or so).
This looks so attractive. I normally don’t like goat cheese but marinating in coconut milk and spicing it up will do the trick for me. Love the colours! Talking about sleeping…I doze off in anything moving and is ridiculed by family all the time!
Oh thank you so much, though this is halloumi not goats cheese so hopefully you’ll enjoy this dish with all it’s bite! X
How are you feeling by now? I hope much much better! these are beautiful–wish I could stop by our house for a nibble!
Hi Rhonda, how are you? Thank you for your lovely and kind message. I’m doing much better now thanks and I certainly wish you could swing by too. X
Oh you poor thing. Hope you’re feeling better now. I’m sure that delicious halloumi would have given you a lift!
It’s lovely to hear from you Vanesther, how are you? I’m much better now thank you so much for asking. Glad you like the look of this one, definitely perked me up x
That is the worst… hope your Tasmanian devil had to go to time out! 🙁
This is a lovely dish- great photo too!
No time out just yet, he’s so young that he doesn’t see that I don’t like clearing after him! So glad that you like this recipe and great to connect with you
It’s amazing what destruction such a little person can cause in such a short time! I hope you’re on the mend and can get some rest. I love halloumi and happen to have some hanging about in my fridge right now, so this recipe needs to be made! Thanks for yet another good one!
I think he just gets bored so easily and is too young to understand the concept of destruction versus play!
Thank you Katie, can’t wait to hear what you think once you’ve tried it x
I’m so sorry to hear you’ve been so poorly. Can’t imagine how you’ve muscled on through with a toddler. I’m also in awe of your cooking and blogging. By the time my little man is asleep it’s usually gone 9pm so not much evening left to speak of. Downside trying new recipes and blogging flies out the window, plus side I go to bed earlier. I find the most helpful thing to counter the total exhaustion of parenting a toddler is to write off one evening entirely (preferably on an evening when he’s in bed sooner) and go to sleep when he does. I hope you’re feeling tip top again soon x
Thank you for the lovely message Nic, it’s very lovely to hear from you.
I’m much better, thanks so much for asking. I have no idea how I managed through it all, but I suppose when we have no other choice, it’s just what we do!
I think you are right about the sleep thing, I’m sure I’d be feeling more alive and healthy with more sleep. I think I need to readdress the balance in life! Xx
Your recipes are always so creative and this one is no exception. Intriguing blend of flavors here. I really ought to eat more figs.
Hi Lisa, thank you for your kind words, I’m so glad that you see what I am doing with my recipes and that you appreciate them. We have lots of fleshy pink figs in season right now and they are proving more versatile than i first thought x
Thanks so much for entering this aromatic and spicy recipe to Cooking with Herbs – I LOVE all of the ingredients you have used and it is a masterpiece of careful herbs and spices blending! Karen
So glad you like the balance in this one Karen, thank you! X
I LOVE the look of these Deena, and I still have some figs on my tree, so now I am home I may try this recipe! Karen
Bookmarked for my veggie daughter. Poor you – I think it’s a boy thing….