Push the envelope

Love, love, loving this weather. It does force you to be more creative with meals. No simply shoving a baked potato in the oven.
 

I was also preparing for a picnic in Kew Gardens tomorrow night so I wanted something relatively simple, but nutritious for dinner. Opening up my fridge door, I saw the vegetables that needed to be used up, which included an aubergine. I could have gone for my usual aubergine parmiagiana, but with the heat, I wanted something a bit more salad-y. So inspiration struck once again and with no need for any excuse for me to chow down on halloumi, I decided to nip, tuck and roll my vegetables. This meal also had the added bonus of allowing me to crack open my Anatolian bottle of pomegranate molasses – woop woop!


What you will need
1 aubergine
1 courgette
A packet of halloumi
Olive oil (chilli oil optional)
Lettuce (any leaves will do)
Pomegranate molasses (balsamic will do)
Lemon
Chilli flakes


I started by slicing both my aubergine and courgette lengthways. I managed to obtain about 7 slices of the aubergine and 5 of the courgette. I salted these a little bit, just to help them start to soften. I then added a tiny brush of chilli oil to one side and griddled for 3-4 minutes until brown and then repeated on the other side. Remember the rule for grilled pans is to oil the food and not the pan. If you don't have a griddle pan, place under the grill until browned each side. Make sure the vegetables are cooked and maleable.


I sliced the halloumi into 8 slices and wrapped four of the slices in aubergine and four in courgette. I then placed under the grill to soften the halloumi and brown the ends poking out either side of each envelope.


Meanwhile I made my dressing. I like to make mine in the old rose’s lime marmalade jar we have. I added 3/4 oil to a 1/4 of the pomegranate molasses, tasted and adjusted to taste. I seasoned and added some dried chilli flakes (to taste) and a squeeze of lemon to cut through the sweetness and shook the whole thing up – make sure you remember the lid!


I set two of the courgette and two of the aubergine halloumi parcels onto a bed of leaves when they were ready and poured over some of the dressing. Some actual pomegranate pearls would have made the whole things look even more beautiful. I garnished mine with fresh lemon thyme and Greek basil.

And yes, you guessed it. Gipsy Spread had his with the never ending Waitrose pulled pork and some of the ‘Holy Cow’ organic loaf we picked up at the weekend.

These parcels would work equally as well served with cous cous, but I opted to remain carb-less, still reeling from my pastry fuelled weekend.