food to glow

To mangle a well-known English phrase: dressings maketh salad. This might not be strictly true, but dressings and sauces can certainly be deal-breakers.

Dressings and sauces are the pearl necklace, Louboutins, or Hermes scarf to a simple salad. Or they should be. That just-so accoutrement that if got wrong ruins the whole look – or taste; but if spot-on is oh so right. And not showy about it.

I try and get round potential dining out disappoint by doing that American trick of asking for dressing on the side. This simple request – that I transplanted to Edinburgh in the late 1980s – used to elicit a pause at politest, and a “why?” at worst. Followed swiftly by “no”. Now it is as common as asking for a doggy bag. I say why ruin perfectly acceptable vegetables with an ill-judged, mouth-puckering vinaigrette, or sweet as candy Russian dressing? “On the side” gives you portion control and most importantly, taste control.

Making your own dressing or sauce – this one does double duty – is the ultimate in culinary control. Compare a shop-bought hollandaise with a homemade one. Or a strident yet weirdly sweet jarred pasta sauce with your own, stirred-with-love effort. No comparison. Dressings are even easier. And have just as much impact. Get that acid to oil balance just right and you have a friend for life. The 3:1 ratio of oil to acid is where good dressings begin.

This simple dressing/sauce is one of my favourites, although it doesn’t strictly adhere to the above classic ratio.  I have made versions of this off and on for all of my adult life (i.e. a long time); before I even knew that other people were doing the same and serving it in restaurants and publishing it in books. It is highly tweakable, so if this is your kind of sauce, just make it your own. Add more garlic. Use dried mint rather than fresh (dried mint is not inferior, just different). Leave out the mint altogether. Up the tahini. Your call.

The grilled bread salad is perfect here – giant homemade croutons are always welcome on my salads – but this is also addictively more-ish with torn bits of fresh sourdough bread, spring crudités, stirred into nubbly grain salads and drizzled over room temperature sweet roasted root vegetables.

As manners maketh man I wouldn’t recommend bringing this in to a restaurant. But as dressings maketh salad, choose wisely and ask for the dressing on the side. 🙂

Some halloumi recipes from others:

Halloumi Vegetable Skewers – Hungry Healthy Happy

Grilled Tomatoes and Peppers with Halloumi – Coffee & Vanilla

Asparagus, Halloumi & Potato Curry – Deena Kakaya

Grilled Halloumi with Strawberries and Herbs – Epicurious

 Grilled Halloumi & Minted Zucchini Sandwiches – NYT Food

Falafel & Halloumi Kebabs – Tinned Tomatoes

And a couple from me:

Mediterranean Vegetable & Halloumi Galette

Warm Beetroot, Halloumi, Lentil and Pepper Salad