Cantaloupe, Halloumi & Basil Stacks

When it comes to shopping at my local farmers' market in the summertime, I've learned my lesson the hard way that the cheaper option is not necessarily the best choice!

It's so tempting to shop around and buy from the vendor offering fruits or veggies for the lowest price, but time and time again, I end up disappointed and wishing I had splurged on a nicer product from one of the organic farmers.

That was the case a couple weeks ago when I was on the lookout for a cantaloupe to make this dish. I saw a huge bin of cantaloupes for only $2 so I happily scooped one up, thinking I had found a great deal. Of course, about five minutes later I came across an organic stall selling local Ontario cantaloupes that looked much nicer and were only slightly more expensive.

My non-local cantaloupe turned out to be a bad one (not surprising) and ended up going to waste, but luckily I was able to get a beautiful local one a few days later so that I could make this recipe!

I've seen lots of recipes on the web this summer for watermelon and halloumi salads. Watermelon pairs really well with salty cheeses like feta or halloumi, so I wanted to try a similar combination using another type of melon - cantaloupe.

I kept this dish pretty basic, layering slices of ripe cantaloupe with pieces of sauteed halloumi (or grilled if you like!) and fresh basil. I also made a simple basil dressing to pour over everything to add even more flavour.

This was such a fresh and summery meal! Since the cheese is pretty rich, the melon really balanced it out, complementing the saltiness with some sweetness. I loved the basil dressing, so if you're lucky enough to have an abundance of basil growing in your garden, this would be a great way to use some of it up!

Hope you all enjoy the weekend - it's looking to be a beautiful one here!

Cantaloupe, Halloumi & Basil Stacks

Dressing

1 cup loosely packed fresh basil

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (or white wine vinegar)

1 tsp agave or honey

Salt and pepper to taste

Salad

1 (160g) package halloumi cheese (I used a mediterranean flavoured brand)

~Half a ripe cantaloupe
Handful of fresh basil leaves

To make the dressing, place all ingredients in a blender or mini food processor and blend until it's as smooth as possible. Transfer to a small bowl.

Heat a skillet over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Slice halloumi in half horizontally, then slice each half into three pieces. Brush one side of the tofu pieces with the basil dressing, then place face-down in the pan.  Let cook for about 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, brush the other side (that’s facing up) with the dressing. Flip, then cook the other side another 2-3 minutes, until most of the sauce has cooked off and the cheese is browned on each side. Remove from heat and transfer to a plate.

Slice cantaloupe however you like – you can either do long, curving slices or rectangular pieces to match the shape of the cheese. Arrange the cantaloupe and halloumi slices with some fresh basil on the plate, either layered in between each other or stacked on top of each other (like the two different presentations in the photos above). Drizzle with the remaining basil dressing.

Makes 2 servings (or more as a bite-sized appetizer). 

Recipe Round-Up: Popsicle Ideas!

With the sweltering heat we've been having so far this summer in Ontario, I've been wishing more every day that I had a pool in my backyard to cool off in.  But since I'm not that lucky, a more affordable way for me to beat the heat is by making my own popsicles!

I finally bought my first popsicle mold at the start of the summer and I've already made good use of my purchase, having made five different kinds of popsicles for myself so far. I usually make small batches of 2-4 popsicles of each flavour, so that I can even have two different types of popsicles in my freezer at the same time.

Some of the flavours I've tried have been really simple and don't really require a "recipe", so I thought that instead of doing separate blog posts for each one, I'd combine them all into one post with ideas for five different kinds of popsicles you can easily make yourself at home if you have a mold.

1. Mango Lassi Popsicles

The first popsicles that I made were these mango lassi popsicles, and I've already made a second batch!  I found the recipe for these on Desserts for Breakfast and made a couple of minor changes, like using almond milk and honey instead of the sugar. If you ever have leftover mango, these popsicles are a great way to use it up! They were super creamy from the yogurt, and even though they didn't taste quite the same as an authentic mango lassi drink, I still loved them!

2. Cantaloupe & Mint Popsicles

Next up was these cantaloupe-mint popsicles.  I was inspired to make them with my leftover ingredients from this cold cantaloupe-mint soup, and it turned out those flavours worked just as well together in a popsicle!  They were very juicy, and more of an ice-pop texture as opposed to the creamy mango ones.  I will warn you, however, that these are more of a grown-up popsicle - I wouldn't recommend adding the mint if you plan on making these for kids.  You also have to like cantaloupe, since that's the dominant taste in these popsicles, and I know I lot of people have strong feelings against cantaloupe!

If you'd like to try these, here's the recipe I followed:

Cantaloupe-Mint Popsicles

2 cups chopped cantaloupe

1 tbsp lemon juice

½ tbsp chopped mint leaves

1 tsp honey

Dash of ginger


Add all ingredients to a blender and puree until smooth. Pour mixture into a popsicle mold and freeze until solid.

Makes 4 large popsicles 

3. Matcha Yogurt Popsicles

Another recipe that turned out better than I expected was these matcha yogurt popsicles, which I found on All Day I Dream About Food. I only made a third of the recipe, and I didn't have quite enough yogurt so I had to substitute some almond milk instead.  They still turned out nice and creamy, and I loved the way the green tea flavour came through without being too strong, and it was complemented well by the lemon juice, sweetener (I used powdered stevia), and vanilla yogurt. If you're a fan of matcha, you should definitely make these!

4. Chocolate Coconut Water Popsicles

Since I had seen popsicle recipes made from pretty much every type of drink or liquid, I started wondering whether I could just freeze coconut water into a popsicle mould to get the ultimate refreshing and hydrating frozen popsicle! I bought a bottle of my favourite kind of coconut water - Zico Chocolate - and poured some into a couple of my popsicle molds.  I also tried adding a splash of coconut milk beverage to the remaining molds (about 2 tbsp per 1/2 cup of coconut water), to see if adding coconut milk would improve the texture.

They came out just as I was hoping - they had all the taste of the chocolate coconut water, but in a solid icy form!  Both of my versions worked out well, but I preferred the ones that had the extra coconut milk added to them. I haven't tried making popsicles out of unflavoured coconut water, so if anyone has tried that, let me know how you like them!

5. Coconut Chai Popsicles

Finally, my favourite popsicles that I've made so far were these coconut chai popsicles.  All I did was heat equal amounts of So Delicious coconut milk beverage and canned coconut milk on the stove and once it was simmering, I whisked in some instant chai powdered beverage mix (1 tbsp of mix per 1/2 cup of liquid).  Once the powder is fully dissolved, let the mixture cool and then pour into popsicle molds.

These came out so soft and creamy, similar to a fudgsicle texture, and I loved the sweet coconut and chai flavours. If you don't have instant chai mix, you could try just adding a mixture of actual chai spices like ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cardamom, but I haven't tried this myself so I'm not sure if the spices would be too strong this way.


I can't wait to try out more flavors of popsicles before the summer ends! I've already started thinking of ways to incorporate some of my other favourite ingredients like bananas, avocado and nut butter, and now that local peaches are in season, I'll definitely have to make some peach popsicles!

Hope you're all staying cool too!

Cold Cantaloupe-Mint Soup

I have a short and simple post for you today, because I've got a lot of packing and preparing to do before I head to the airport for another trip!  Tonight I'll be on my way to a continent that I've never been to before: Africa!  More specifically, I'm going to Zambia, where I'll be participating in a week-long workshop held in the capital city of Lusaka.  I know I won't have much (if any) free time while I'm there, but I'm still really excited to visit a new country and experience new cultures.  Although I am a bit worried about the food options there - hopefully there will be enough vegetarian food for me!  And if anybody has any tips about what to eat in Zambia, please feel free to share them with me!

I hope to stay in touch while I'm away, but in case I don't get a chance to blog from Africa then I'll be back online in about 10 days - and hopefully I'll have some stories and pictures to share with you from my trip!

And since it's the cooler season in Zambia right now, I'm actually a bit relieved to be leaving the heatwave we're having here in Ontario.  When it's this hot out, my idea of the perfect meal is a cold soup made from fresh summer produce.

I really got into chilled soups last summer, when I made a couple versions of avocado soups, and a mango gazpacho that I loved.  This summer, the first chilled soup that I made was this cantaloupe-mint soup.

I like the idea of pureeing fruit into a soup, but it's easy to end up with something that tastes more like a smoothie than a dinner.  This soup definitely didn't taste anything like breakfast though - the cantaloupe was contrasted with lots of fresh herbs and spices, giving the soup a powerful punch of flavour.

I really liked the clean, refreshing note of the mint, and the lime and chili pepper added extra dimensions of their own.  (Note: I used a really hot chili pepper in my soup, but next time I would use something a bit milder like a jalapeno because I found the chili a bit too overpowering).

I'll be at the airport by dinnertime, but this cold, spicy and refreshing soup would definitely hit the spot on a hot night like tonight!

Cold Cantaloupe-Mint Soup
Adapted from Natural Noshing

~4 cups chopped cantaloupe

1 cup chopped peeled cucumber

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 small chili pepper or jalapeno, minced (optional)

Juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

1-2 tsp palm sugar or other sweetener

Pinch of sea salt

Ground pepper

Plain yogurt for serving (optional)

Place the first seven ingredients (cantaloupe to sugar) in a blender and puree until smooth.  You may need to blend the ingredients in batches (ie. blend half of the cantaloupe, then pour it out into a bowl, then puree the rest.  Then pour everything back into the blender to finish blending). Taste and add salt and pepper to taste, then blend again to mix.

Transfer soup to a large bowl or container and keep the soup in the fridge for at least one hour before serving to chill.

To serve, pour soup into bowls and stir in a spoonful or two of plain yogurt.

Makes about 3.5 cups