Escarole Salad With Smoky Halloumi Croutons
- Total Time
- 20 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 servings
- 1small garlic clove, grated or pressed
- 1½tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus more to taste
- ½teaspoon fine sea salt, plus more to taste
- 5tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to taste
- 1tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
- 6ounces halloumi cheese, diced into 1-inch cubes and patted dry
- ¾teaspoon sweet smoked paprika (pimentón)
- 6cups escarole, torn into bite-size pieces
- 1cup parsley leaves and tender stems
- ½shallot, or ¼ small red onion, thinly sliced
- Pomegranate seeds, for garnish (optional)
For the Dressing
For the Salad
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
327 calories; 30 grams fat; 9 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 17 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 10 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 1 gram sugars; 8 grams protein; 531 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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- Step 1
Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together garlic, lemon juice and salt. Let sit for 30 seconds for the salt to dissolve, then whisk in olive oil. Taste and add more salt if needed. Set aside.
- Step 2
Prepare the salad: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a medium skillet over medium-high until it thins out, about 20 seconds. Add cheese and cook until golden on one side, 1 to 2 minutes, adding more oil if the pan dries out. Flip cheese and sprinkle with paprika. Let cook without moving until golden on the other side, about 1 minute longer. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Step 3
Put escarole, parsley and shallot in a large salad bowl. Add the dressing and warm halloumi, and toss well, adding more oil, lemon juice and salt, to taste. Serve immediately, strewn with pomegranate seeds, if you like.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
bonnee
Non-stick pan and NO OIL necessary. Very spattery and messy with added oil. Halloumi is an oily cheese and browns well. Takes a few minutes for the water content to evaporate and then browns well. Delicious recipe!
Ross Huelster
In Wisconsin you can find Juustoleipa (hoo-stay-lee-pah), Finnish bread cheese. I read that the curds are similar to feta. They are pressed and baked. To serve one grills or sautés the block or cubes. It is delicious and would substitute well for the halloumi. At least in Wisconsin. Or Finland.
Christa
Important note from the accompanying article not mentioned in the recipe notes: "other firm cheeses suited for frying and grilling — kefalotyri, queso blanco, bread cheese, paneer — can be used instead. You can even substitute feta."
Linda Townshend
Not cheese. Totally different recipe even if delicious.
Tommy Weir
Halloumi can be very salty. It's quite nice to marinade it in lemon juice before frying, it lifts it somewhat and takes the salt down. Dust it with paprika while frying as outlined in the recipe but also add in Greek oregano. Both flavour notes are offset nicely by the lemon.
Ann Harrington
Grill the halloumi. It's great that way and less of a mess.
DC
A terrific salad that I often make this time of year, but using the halloumi was a delicious addition. The only change I made was to add more parsley to balance the bitterness of the escarole. I added at least twice as much fresh flat leaf parsley (I love it) above and beyond what is called for here to smooth out the escarole. For me, parsley is one of the most underrated greens ... ever!
chris
Non-stick pan and NO OIL necessary. Very spattery and messy with added oil. Halloumi is an oily cheese and browns well. Takes a few minutes for the water content to evaporate and then browns well. Delicious recipe!
Katgal
pomegranate vinegar
Lari
Chunks of fried breadcheese are great and all (topped with garlic and salsa or cinnamon and jam), but when I read "cheese for croutons", I immediately thought of frico. I like to crumble pieces of baked parm into large pieces over my salad. A good crunchy bread substitute.
Tannie B
Delicious! My only change would be to reduce the amount of salt in the dressing as the halloumi was quite salty. Would definitely make again.
Uri
Haloumi is also a perfect replacement for feta in sheet pan dinners.
topacho
A tastier alternative to crispy halloumi is duck-skin cracklings. Since discovering duck-skin cracklings I now always remove the skin from duck breast or legs and cook it separately as cracklings (you can find good instructions for cracklings online).
McDiddle
Cut the dressing salt in half. Between the salt in the halloumi cheese and the delicate escarole leaves, there's plenty of salt to go around. Otherwise, this is a delicious recipe.
kittypro
This salad is off the charts good! My market did not have any escarole, so I used fresh baby spinach instead. Otherwise, I followed the recipe as written. I would not change a thing! Seriously, I could not stop eating this. I made it as an accompaniment to the Easy Chicken Kapama on the NYT site, per Sam Sifton's suggestion in the newsletter. Though the chicken was delicious too, the salad was really the star of the meal. I will make this again and again.
some recommensations
To make the salad more substantial and to add more crunch, I added cucumbers and tomatoes. As someone else recommended, I added a Greek herb mix on the halloumi before frying. This all added a more Mediterranean vibe!
Catharine
Made it as written and served with some nuts toasted in the residual oil and paprika. Made plenty for two for dinner with some nice bread. (You really don’t need oil to brown halloumi.)
Camandari
Thanks for other Cooks info! As suggested, I marinated the halloumi cubes in lemon juice to reduce the saltiness, but also added the smoked paprika to this, stirring it from time to time for a couple of hours before cooking. (I was busy with over things; probably don't need to marinate longer than 20-30 min.) Removed cubes from marinade with slotted spoon & cooked in nonstick pan, also as directed by others. Result was perfect. Subtle, not overpowering, smoked paprika taste. A delish salad.
Doug
I second (or third?) the suggestion that no oil is needed to brown the cheese. The halloumi we get from the "gourmet cheese" section of our local grocery cooks off a fair bit of whey before it will brown. Using oil just delays this process. A good non-stick pan is all that is needed.
Betsy
This is a simple salad that's been dressed up and turns out great. I added grilled shrimp and it easily became a main. Really enjoyed the addition of browned halloumi to the salad. I'd make this again. Don't skip the pomegranate seeds.
Mare
Couldn’t find halloumi so used bread cheese and now this is a favorite for every dinner/tossed salad — although this version with escarole is especially amazing. Also great with garlic bread cheese in a Caesar salad.
KMD
It’s far easier to cut the halloumi in strips to cook them in the skillet, particularly when you need to turn the cheese over. Then, after you remove the strips from the skillet & transfer them to the paper towel, just just the strips into cubes.
Katie
Please don't use Feta. It melts before it browns.
David C Morris
Melissa Clark does it again! This also works with paneer.
Michael
The dressing is fantastic. I make this all the time for use on salads, shrimp, chicken, asparagus and other vegetables. Simple and good.
Es
I think the reader who used spinach was onto something. The escarole was just not tender enough so if had wilted just a little from the halloumi (like the spinach would have) it would have been more pleasing.
Tom Kulaga
This. Was. Delicious. A perfect summer salad with some focaccia on the side. An immediate addition to the rotation.
Sarah
I made this with some shrimp sautéed in olive oil with lemon and garlic—a great addition if you’re looking for a little protein but still want to keep it light!
Sarah
Couldn’t find escarole so I used frisé, which added a nice bitterness. To offset the frisé I soaked the shallots in apple cider vinegar to soften their bite a bit.
YoYo
The pomegranate arils bring the salad together, including visually. I think they’re a must for this recipe- I added an entire 5.3-ounce package. Will make again. :)
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