Summer Vegetable Bake with Halloumi
Summer Vegetable Bake with Halloumi
This is one of those recipes that should change a little every time you make it. It's less about following an exact list of vegetables and more about using what's abundant at the farmers market, coming out of your garden, or simply waiting in your refrigerator.
The one vegetable I wouldn't skip is the tomato. As everything cooks together, ripe summer tomatoes release their juices and create the flavorful base that brings all of the other vegetables together. Eggplant, peppers, sweet corn, fennel, onion, and celery are what I used here, but zucchini, summer squash, different varieties of peppers, or other summer vegetables would be right at home.
Once the vegetables are tender, everything gets transferred to a baking dish and covered with halloumi. A few minutes under the broiler turns the cheese deeply golden while leaving that wonderfully chewy, salty interior intact.
It's simple summer cooking—the kind where really good vegetables do most of the work for you.
Ingredients
2 medium tomatoes (about 1 pound / 450 g), large diced
2 small eggplants (about 1 pound / 450 g), peeled and large diced
4 small peppers, such as red banana peppers (about 8 ounces / 225 g), large diced
2 ears fresh corn, kernels cut from the cobs (about 1½ cups / 225 g kernels)
1 stalk celery (about 2 ounces / 55 g), small diced
¼ fennel bulb (about 2 ounces / 55 g), small diced
1 small onion (about 4 ounces / 115 g), small diced
¼ cup (60 g) extra-virgin olive oil
A handful of fresh basil, thyme, and oregano, to taste
Kosher salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 package halloumi cheese (about 8 ounces / 225 g), sliced
Method
Peel the eggplant and cut it into a large dice. Large dice the tomatoes and peppers, keeping the vegetables relatively similar in size so they cook evenly.
Cut the kernels from the corn cobs. Small dice the onion, fennel, and celery. Pick the herbs from their stems, roughly chopping any larger leaves.
Add the olive oil to a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, fennel, and celery and cook for a few minutes to begin softening them.
Add the eggplant, peppers, corn, tomatoes, and herbs. Season with salt and black pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender and the tomatoes have broken down enough to create a juicy, flavorful base. You want the vegetables cooked through but not completely falling apart.
Preheat the broiler to high.
Transfer the cooked vegetables and all of their juices to a baking dish. Arrange the sliced halloumi evenly over the top.
Place the baking dish under the broiler and cook until the halloumi is deeply golden brown on top. Keep a close eye on it—the exact time will depend on how close your baking dish is to the broiler.
Serve hot, making sure every portion gets plenty of vegetables, their juices, and a piece of golden halloumi.
Cook's Note: Use What Summer Gives You
Think of the vegetable list as a starting point rather than a rule. Zucchini, yellow squash, different peppers, or other summer vegetables can all be swapped in depending on what you have.
The tomato is the exception. Keep that one. The tomatoes provide both acidity and moisture as they cook, creating the saucy base that keeps this from simply being a pan of roasted vegetables.
Halloumi is naturally quite salty, so season the vegetables with a lighter hand initially. You can always adjust the seasoning just before transferring everything to the baking dish.
