Roasted Veg & Halloumi Cheese Bake
Prep time: 10 -15 minutes/ Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS:
Bake:
1 tbsp. oil
400g red onions, peeled & cut into chunks
1 yellow pepper, deseed & cut into thick strips
1 aubergine, cut into chunks
250g cherry tomatoes
250g halloumi cheese
Roasted new potatoes:
1 tbsp. oil
800g small new potatoes, cut in half or quartered depending on size
Parsley dressing:
3 tbsp. oil
Handful of parsley
1 garlic clove, peeled
METHOD:
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Roasted new potatoes: add the quartered & halved potatoes to an oven tray. Drizzle with oil, season with salt and pepper and mix well so the potatoes are evenly coated with the oil. Put the tray in the oven and cook for up to 40 minutes or until the potatoes are cooked through and golden.
3. Once the potatoes are in the oven, start on the bake: Add the chunks of red onion & aubergines, pepper strips and cherry tomatoes to a tray and drizzle with the oil. Season with salt & pepper and give everything a good mix up.
4. Put the tray in the oven for around 20 min (or until the vegetables start to soften).
5. Meanwhile, cut the halloumi cheese into 6 slices.
6. After the 20 minutes, take the vegetables tray out of the oven and lay the halloumi slices over the roasted vegetables, return to the oven and cook for a further 10-15 minutes until the halloumi is golden brown.
7. Parsley dressing: finely chop the garlic and parsley, mix in a little bowl and add 2-3tbsp of oil, mix well. A squeeze of lemon would also be nice if available.
8. Serve the veggie & cheese bake with the roasted potatoes and a drizzle of the parsley dressing on top.
TIPS:
✓ Use whatever vegetables you like best or you have in your fridge that need to be used like broccoli, cauliflower, courgettes or carrots.
✓ Use sweet potatoes instead of small new potatoes – cut into wedges and follow same method.
✓ Add some spices to the potatoes before putting them in the oven, just a little bit of chilli will be lovely if you do not mind the heat. Otherwise dried herbs work well too (thyme, rosemary, oregano or basil).
✓ Use different herbs instead of parsley for the dressing, fresh basil or chives would be delicious. You could always add a little chopped fresh chilli to it to if your family likes spicy food.
✓ Ideally, you need two large oven trays for this recipe to cook everything in the oven. If you only have one tray or your oven is not big enough, I would suggest that you still roast the potatoes in the oven and then just sauté (fry quickly in a little oil) the vegetables on a frying pan in the stove (perhaps just chop them smaller) ,fry the halloumi in a frying pan too with a bit of oil until lovely and golden.
NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:
Nutrition per serving, based on 4 servings per recipe with no added salt:
Roasted vegetables & halloumi bake:
Kcal 290Kcal
Fat 19.31g
Saturates 10.36g
Carbs 13.75g
Sugars 0g
Fibre 4.05g
Protein 16.39g
Salt 1.63g
Roasted new potatoes:
Kcal 156.72Kcal
Fat 3.53g
Saturates 0.42g
Carbs 30.80g
Sugars 0g
Fibre 3g
Protein 2.80g
Salt 0.13g
Parsley dressing:
Kcal 78.88Kcal
Fat 8.39g
Saturates 0.66g
Carbs 0.46g
Sugars 0g
Fibre 0.59g
Protein 0.41g
Salt 0.01g
This is a fantastic dish as it is a perfect balance between carbohydrates, fats, protein and contains lots of different minerals and vitamins.
Oil: this is a fantastic thing to add into your diet! The most nutritious option would be extra virgin olive oil, but vegetable, olive or rapeseed oil would also be a great alternative. These are full of healthy fats and antioxidants which have proven to be beneficial to our health and protective against certain diseases!
Red onions: low in calories but high in antioxidants! Onions are rich in an antioxidant known as Quercetin which is thought to fight inflammation and boost our immune system. A versatile flavour to add into many dishes.
Yellow pepper: Packed full of Vitamin A, C, fibre and potassium!
Aubergine – The purple skin is rich in an antioxidant known as Nasunin which protects healthy fats within our body. It may also help to lower levels of cholesterol! They are also a great source of dietary fibre, minerals and vitamins B1 and B6.
Tomato – One tomato can contain 40% of our daily recommended intake of vitamin C!
Potato – these are a cheap, versatile, and nutritious carbohydrate! Contrary to popular belief potatoes can be enjoyed as part of a healthy and balanced diet. They are high in Resistant Starch which is beneficial for our gut health and blood sugar control. They also contain lots of vitamins and other micronutrients. When cooking potatoes try to be mindful of the way in which they are cooked, deep frying potatoes or cooking them with a lot of butter/ cream may be delicious - but not very healthy!
Garlic: garlic is such a fantastic and tasty ingredient with so many health benefits! It can help combat sickness, reduce blood pressure and improve cholesterol levels. Recent research has even suggested it could help prevent Alzheimer’s disease!
Halloumi: this is a Cypriot cheese made traditionally made with goats milk! It tends to be served either fried, baked or grilled. A portion contains 70% of an adults recommended daily intake of calcium – meaning it is fantastic for bone health! It is also high in protein.
Parsley: a flavoursome herb which contains vitamins A,C & K! All of these vitamins have associated health benefits.
