Simple Summer Supper

While we were freezing corn last week, we pulled some from the batch to eat later that day because it was so delicious. I could totally eat JUST corn for dinner, but thought I should have something else with it for the rest of the family. After helping my mom with the corn in the morning, I was hot, tired and uninspired.

I started poking around the pantry and found some fun pasta that I had found awhile back at Trader Joe’s. It was tiny, tricolor spirals, perfect for holding sauce or dressing. I decided on a pasta salad of some sort. Next, I found some Halloumi cheese hiding in the fridge, so I decided on a Mediterranean salad.

I have talked about Halloumi cheese before. I first heard about it from the food blog, www.vikalinka.com. It is a delicious, salty, firm cheese. The first time I read about it, she was using it in a big Mediterranean salad also. Halloumi is dense enough to be fried in a pan, making it an amazing addition to salads.

I used the same dressing from the salad from www.vikalinka.com, but decided to wing the rest. That’s the beauty of a pasta salad.

The first thing I did was boil the pasta. While it was boiling, I mixed up the dressing, which is a simple combination of olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, oregano and salt. Put all the ingredients into a small mason jar and shake it up. Set it aside until the rest of the salad is ready.

Once your pasta is tender, drain and rinse with cold water. Let the pasta sit a bit while you chop up some garden fresh cucumbers and red peppers. If you have other peppers to use, go ahead and throw those in, too. Place the veggies in a large bowl and add the cooled pasta. Slice some black olives or Kalamata olives if you have them on hand. Finally, throw in some baby tomatoes.

Slice up the block of Halloumi cheese and place it in a skillet with a splash of olive oil. Fry the Halloumi until it is nicely golden brown on each side. Remove the cheese from the pan and cut into cubes.

Add the cheese to the bowl with the other salad ingredients. Pour half of the dressing on top of the salad and mix well. Taste the salad and add more dressing if desired.

This salad was the perfect accompaniment to the delicious sweet corn on the cob, but it would also be great served with grilled chicken. It would also be a wonderful salad to take to a church potluck or picnic, as it can sit out for longer than mayo based salads.

Feel free to use any small pasta and add any additional veggies that you need to use up. If you are lucky enough to have some fresh oregano on hand, you can sprinkle a bit of that through the salad as well.

The best part of summer is simple, easy suppers like this salad. Fresh veggies should be center stage and there is no need to heat up the kitchen. If you have more easy summer meals like this, please share them with me.