If you follow me on Instagram stories (follow me here) then you will know I always share my meals over there. I get asked for recipes a lot and I’m always promising to do them but struggle for time. Now that my youngest has started school I’m hoping I will have more time to dedicate to getting some regular recipes out on the blog. I asked over on my stories what recipes people wanted from me and there were a variety of helpful responses. Lots of you asked for vegetarian and lots asked for halloumi and many you enjoyed my last one-pot halloumi healthy rash recipe. So when Hello Fresh asked me to make one of their recipes, I thought their pan-fried halloumi with caramelised red onion and lentils would be ideal.
This dish is a really well-balanced meal with the lentils, tomatoes and spinach counting towards your 5 a day. You get good protein from both the lentils and halloumi. Whilst the sweet caramelised red onion pairs beautifully with the salty halloumi. This dish is full of nutrients without compromising on flavour.
The recipe serves two people however, the portions are ample so you can get away with dividing it into 3 (this reduces the calorie count to 417cals, instead of 625) and keeping a cheeky serving for lunch the next day which I did (and felt very smug about when eating it at my work desk on a grey Monday). Whatever portion size you plump for this dish is a real treat.
If you want an easy way to reduce calories/fat in this recipe then you can use an olive oil spray instead of pour and switch to a half fat halloumi.
Pan fried halloumi with caramelised red onion and lentils recipe
Equipment
- Frying pan
- Chopping board
- Knife
- Spatula
- Garlic press or fine grater
- Saucepan with lid
Ingredients
1
punnet cherry tomatoes- 1 clove garlic
- 1 bunch mint
- 1 block halloumi
- 1 tin lentils
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 bag baby spinach
- 1 shallot
- 1 red onion
- 15 grams pumpkin seeds
Instructions
- Halve, peel and chop the shallot into small ½cm pieces. Halve, peel and slice the red onion into thin half-moons. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Remove the mint leaves from their stalks. Discard the stalks and chop the leaves. Slice each halloumi block into eight slices. Drain the lentils in a sieve or colander and rinse under cold water.
- Drizzle a good glug of olive oil into a saucepan on medium heat and add the red onion. Cook until really soft, 7 mins. Add the balsamic vinegar, pop a lid on and turn the heat down to low. Cook until nicely caramelised, stirring occasionally, 8-10 mins. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. Wipe out the pan.
- Heat a drizzle of oil in another frying pan on medium heat, add the shallot. Cook until soft, 5 mins. Add the tomatoes, a pinch of salt and black pepper. Cook for 5 mins more. Add the garlic and stir. Cook for another minute. Next add the lentils along with another pinch of salt and black pepper. Stir together. Warm through for 3 mins. Add the baby spinach, pop a lid on and leave to the side (off the heat) to wilt the spinach
- While the spinach wilts, put the (now empty) pan you used for the onions on medium heat and add a drizzle of oil. Once the oil is hot, lay in the halloumi slices. Cook for 3 mins on each side until golden. Remove the pan from the heat.
- Add half the mint to the lentil mixture and stir together (if the spinach hasn't wilted completely, that's fine!).
- Serve the lentil mixture in bowls with the halloumi slices on top. Spoon over the caramelised red onion and finish with the remaining mint and pumpkin seeds.
If you want to try this Hello Fresh recipe out then why not give Hello Fresh a try for a whole host of delicious recipes just like this. I have a £10 off offer for my readers via this link.
If you liked this post don’t forget to check out my other recipes:
- Chocolate banana smoothie recipe
- Slow cooker vegan mung bean and spinach dahl recipe
- One pot healthy halloumi hash recipe
- One pot corned beef stew recipe
My friend Emma also has a great queso chicken recipe.
And if you have any recipe requests for me going forward, just let me know in the comments. I have some really tasty ones planned that I can’t wait to share with you!
Happy cooking!
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Your photos look brilliant! Love a good recipe post so thanks for sharing x
Thanks so much Sam! That means a lot coming from you.
Loving the photos, they’re lovely! Also, this is right up my street. I’ll deffo give this a go.
Katie xoxo
Thank you! Let me know how you get on.
This looks super tasty. I rarely cook lentils as I’m the only one who really likes them, and adding the halloumi…made me hungry just thinking about it.
Halloumi makes everything taste better, even lentils!