Athena Salad is a powerhouse of flavour, texture and sophistication, it’s my revamp of the classic Caesar salad, but as I believe you should not mess with classics, I have renamed it the Athena Salad, after the Greek Goddess of wisdom, courage and inspiration. It’s a fantastic combination of rich haloumi, sweet roasted red peppers, crunchy cucumbers and caper packed yoghurt dressing. Enjoy.
Athena Salad
with Haloumi Croutons and Yoghurt Caper Dressing
1 package haloumi
roasted red pepper, thickly sliced
1/2 cucumber, sliced
1 large head romaine or cos lettuce, leaves torn
fresh parsley, finely chopped to garnish
fresh mint, finely chopped to garnish
Dressing
2tbsp yoghurt
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 lemon, juice only
1 tsp chopped capers
lots of fresh ground black pepper
Remove the haloumi from the package and cut in half width wise to form 2 long slabs. Stack the slabs and cut lengthwise then width wise to form 1/2 inch cubes. Heat a non stick frying pan with olive oil. Add haloumi and cook, turning frequently until brown on all sides. Let cool slightly.
Arrange torn lettuce on a serving dish. Drizzle with half of the dressing. Top with roasted red pepper strips, cucumbers, haloumi croutons and drizzle with remaining dressing. Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley and mint to garnish.