Looking for a delicious side dish that you can make on the grill? This Grilled Eggplant Salad with Mint and Haloumi Cheese makes the perfect side salad or it's also great for a light lunch! Post may contain affiliate links.
Grilled Eggplant Salad with Mint and Haloumi
I don't like eggplant. I don't hate it, but it is definitely not something I would buy. When my CSA recently had a couple of small eggplants in our basket, I thought about putting them straight in the compost pile. I had plenty of vegetables to work with that I actually liked and enjoyed cooking. I decided to do a quick search through Eat Your Books for any Donna Hay recipes with eggplant. If there was anyone that could give me a yummy eggplant recipe it would be her. Up popped Grilled Eggplant and Mint Salad from Entertaining by Donna Hay. As soon as I saw that it had grilled haloumi cheese, I knew I had a winner.
Have you tried haloumi? A cheese that you can actually grill! I love it's salty, earthy flavor. It reminds me of a firm ricotta. I love that you can grill it and it won't melt and fall through the grates (unless you somehow manage to drop it through them!).
This salad was everything I imagined it would be. The eggplant and the fennel paired beautifully and the cheese balanced it so well. I used this as a side dish with some simple grilled chicken, but it would actually make a lovely light dinner or lunch salad all on it's own.
Grilled Eggplant Salad with Mint and Haloumi
Ingredients
- 2 eggplants sliced
- 2 fennel bulbs sliced
- 2 zucchini sliced (I omitted)
- olive
- 5 oz haloumi sliced
- ½ cup mint shredded
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley chopped
- 1 tablespoon honey
- cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Brush the eggplant, fennel, and zucchini with a little oil. Place on a preheated grill and grill for 1-2 minutes per side, or until the vegetables are softened to your liking. Brush the haloumi slices with a little oil. Place on a hot grill pan or frying pan and cook for 1 minute per side or until golden. (I laid mine on the grill and accidentally dropped one through!)
- Arrange the grilled vegetables and haloumi on plates and sprinkle with the mint. Combine the lemon juice, parsley, honey and pepper and pour over the salad. Serve with bread.
- Serves 4 to 6 as a starter (or makes a nice light lunch).
Cory says
So I'm love with eggplant salad. But I've never tried it with mint before. Wow, how delicious! I'm really impressed, thank you for sharing.
Leslie says
I'm not a raging fan of eggplant either, but hey, anything is better with cheese!
Marwin Brown says
The salad looks so tasty and refreshing, especially for summer! The mint is a great touch as well
Elaine says
Yes, I am! Always looking for something as delicious and yum as this salad. Using mint was a great move because it must have added so much additional zing to the dish!
Tammy says
Oh the mint is a wonderful addition to this dish! So light and refreshing for summer...love it!
Veronika says
This salad looks absolutely delicious! Perfect flavor combination and great for the Summer dinner or a cookout!
Tatiana says
This is so easy and delicious! I love the combination of eggplant and mint, it's amazing! Great idea for a summer salad!
Lori | The Kitchen Whisperer says
Oh yum! My in-laws LOVE eggplant and I'll be adding this to the next dinner I have with them. This is so easy and delicious!!! Thank you so much for sharing!
Amanda says
This is my new favorite summer salad! I love anything with haloumi, and the mint adds the perfect brightness to the smoky grilling.
Georgina @ CulinaryTravels says
Beautiful flavour combinations going on here. I’m going to make this tomorrow.
Kirsten says
Pam,
Thanks for this recipe! I've added it to the Farm Fresh Feasts Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me who love to eat from the farm share.
I appreciate your help in making this index better!