Warm Couscous, Tomato, and Halloumi Salad

You need:

250g couscous
3 tbsp olive oil
600 ml / 1 pint boiling water
1 red onion, thinly slice
a packet of halloumi cheese (about 250g), drained and thinly sliced
300 g baby plum tomatoes, halved
2 garlic cloves, sliced
85 g marinated black and green olives ¹
15 g each of fresh parsley and oregano ²
4 tsp capers
lemon wedges, for serving


Preparation:


1. Put the couscous and a tablespoon of olive oil in a bowl, and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the boiling water, cover, and let it stand for 5 minutes.



2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil and fry the red onion for 2-3 minutes until cooked ³. Push to the side of the pan. Add the rest of the oil and fry the halloumi for 2-3 minutes until it's golden and crispy. Remove from the pan, once cooked.



3. Add the halved baby plum tomatoes and the garlic. Fry over high heat for about 2 minutes until browned. ⁴



4. Add the olives, season with salt and pepper (and if you are using dried herbs, you can them at this point) and cook for one minute.



5. Finely chop the herbs and stir into the couscous with the capers.



6. Divide between plates, top with the halloumi and the tomato mixture, and sprinkle with any remaining herb leaves or sprigs. Serve with lemon wedges.



Comments:
¹ The measurement is an estimate. What I normally do is get a handful each of green and black olives or you can put as much as you want!

² If you don't have fresh herbs, you may use dried herbs but you need to add it early on during the cooking process so as to release it's flavour.

³ A good trick in caramelising onion- dry fry them with a bit of salt to release the sugar. Once it's cooked, you can then add the oil. I almost always cook my onion this way.

⁴ If you want to make a bigger tomato mixture, you can add a tin of herbed chopped tomatoes or whole plum tomatoes.