Meatless Monday: Grilled cheese and Peppadew pepper skewers

Grilling cheese isn’t just for sandwiches. Halloumi is the perfect cheese to pop onto a grill pan. Yes, right on the pan! It won’t melt, but it will brown nicely and become slightly crispy on the outside.

I love halloumi. This cheese, with origins in Cypress, is a nice change of pace when it comes to selecting cheese for appetizers. It’s made from a mixture of goat’s milk, sheep’s milk and sometimes cow’s milk. Halloumi is a semisoft cheese and stands up to frying and grilling. The flavor isn’t too strong, but it does have a bit of a salty bite to it, and that makes it perfect to serve alongside the sweet and spicy Peppadew peppers.

Colorful and flavorful ingredients combine in this recipe to make a pretty presentation. I served the Peppadew peppers and halloumi with an olive tapenade, pita chips and cucumber rounds.

Grilled Peppadew peppers and halloumi skewers with olive tapenade recipe

Halloumi cheese isn’t your average appetizer platter cheese, but it certainly is delicious. Break out a grill pan, and skewer this cheese with tasty peppers. Grilling halloumi works best on a grill pan rather than on a backyard grill.

Serves 4-6

Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 8 minutes | Total time: 18 minutes

Ingredients:

For the tapenade

• 1 tomato, seeds removed, diced
• 1/2 cup Kalamata olives, pits removed
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 cucumber, cut into rounds
• Pita chips

For the skewers

• 8 ounces halloumi, cut into 2-inch cubes
• 16 Peppadew peppers, drained from their oil
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions:

For the tapenade

1. To a food processor, add the tomato, olives, garlic, parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and black pepper. Pulse several times until you reach the consistency you like (I left mine with small pieces). Taste, and adjust the seasoning as needed.
2. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the skewers

1. Preheat your grill pan to medium heat.
2. Alternating the Peppadew peppers with the cheese, slide them onto 4 skewers, and then drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
3. When the grill pan is hot, add the skewers, and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, turning once, or until grill marks appear on the peppers and cheese.
4. Serve warm with cucumber rounds, pita chips and the olive tapenade.

More Meatless Monday recipes

Vegetable soup with roasted carrots, mushrooms, Swiss chard and lentils
Green Thai curry with zucchini and mushrooms
Black bean and mushroom posole