The combination of salty grilled halloumi, creamy avocado, peppery radishes alongside sweet charred corn, makes this vegetarian salad with nectarines super refreshing and so easy to prepare.
Cut the halloumi into thick slices and brush lightly with olive oil. Over medium-high heat, place the halloumi on a grill pan or large pan to cook. Fry for 1-2 minutes or until golden brown and then flip over to fry the other side.
Season corn with a little olive oil, salt and pepper. Place corn on a hot grill pan and cook for 15 minutes or until charred.Turn the corn occasionally so all sides are cooked well. Once ready, remove from the grill pan to cool down. Place corn flat on the chopping board and run a sharp knife down to remove the kernels.Keep cutting until you have all the corn kernels. If possible try to cut the kernels in chunks. Place cut kernels into a bowl ready for assembling.
Wash spinach leaves and give it a shake to remove excess water.
Wash and cut nectarines into 1cm wedges.
Wash and rinse radishes well. Trim the stalks and then thinly slice from top to bottom.
Cut avocado in half with skin lengthwise. Gently peel the skin and discard the stone.Place avocado cut side down and cut into 0.5cm slices from top to bottom. Place sliced avocado into a small bowl and squeeze some lemon juice over it to stop it from going brown.
Salad Dressing
Mix together in a small mixing bowl (or in a mason jar) olive oil, apple cider vinegar, seeded mustard, rice malt syrup or honey and salt and pepper.
Give it a good whisk or shake so the dressing is well combined.
It can be left in the fridge until the salad is ready to serve.
Assembly
Use a large platter and layer spinach leaves first.
Divide your other ingredients into half or smaller portions and layer then out across the spinach leaves.
Start with grilled halloumi, then nectarine, then with radishes and then some avocado slices and grilled corn. Repeat the process until you fill the platter.
Drizzle seeded mustard dressing over top and serve.
Notes
You can use white nectarines or peaches in place of yellow nectarines depending what is in season and fresh.
To make it vegan friendly, you can substitute halloumi cheese with a dairy-free version, pan-fried tofu or even swap with grilled eggplant.
Organic rice malt syrup is also easily accessible in the health section of your local supermarkets. It is derived from brown rice and is a great vegan sweetener used in place of honey. However, if you don’t have rice malt syrup, honey works well too.
You can also serve in a large salad bowl with all ingredients tossed in.
Make sure nectarines are ripe but not overly soft to touch.
If you want, you can substitute halloumi with other cheese like goat cheese, paneer, blue cheese, burrata, feta, and buffalo mozzarella would all pair well with nectarine.