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Platter of fattoush salad, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion, mint, radishes and slices of grilled halloumi cheese. There are radishes and mint leaves surrounding the platter, as well as serving utensils and small bowl of dressing.

Fattoush Salad with Grilled Halloumi

This bright, fresh Levantine salad has all the crunch from cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, and fresh herbs, with a sumac and pomegranate molasses dressing, and is topped with grilled halloumi cheese to make it a great light meal.
Course Salad
Cuisine Levantine
Keyword cherry tomatoes, cucumber, mint, parsley, pomegranate molasses, sumac
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 6 minutes
Servings 6

Ingredients

Fattoush Salad

  • 1 head of hearts of romaine lettuce, chopped, can use 3 little gems lettuce instead, see Notes
  • 3 Roma tomatoes, diced, or 12-15 cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2-3 Persian cucumbers, cut into half moons, or 1 English cucumber, quartered
  • 5 radishes, sliced thinly
  • 1/2 green pepper, chopped, optional
  • 2 shallots, sliced thinly, or 3 green onions, chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley
  • 1/4 cup fresh chopped mint
  • 2 tbsp pomegranate arils, garnish, optional

Dressing

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 garlic cloves pressed or grated
  • 1 tsp sumac
  • 2 tsp pomegranate molasses see Notes
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp dried mint
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp Fresh cracked black pepper, or more to taste

Grilled Halloumi

  • 1 package halloumi cheese
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp sumac

Instructions

Dressing, can be made in advance

  1. Whisk all the ingredients in a small bowl. Alternatively, place them all in a glass jar with a lid. Shake till well blended. Taste and re-season as desired. This can be stored in the fridge till needed, but bring back to room temperature before using, as the olive oil may have solidified.

Fattoush Salad

  1. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. If preparing in advance, layer in the following order: tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, pepper, radishes, lettuce, parsley and mint. Lay a damp paper towel over the bowl and place in the fridge. The paper towel will ensure that everything stays fresh and crisp till ready to serve.

Grilled Halloumi Cheese

  1. Slice the cheese into 1/2 inch (1 cm) thick slices, going from the side to ensure that the interior seam stays intact. You may not see it at first, but the way the cheese is pressed, there is a naturally occurring seam trapped on the inside.
  2. Brush each side of the slices with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with the sumac.
  3. Heat the outdoor grill or a stovetop grill pan on medium heat. You can also brush the grill with a little more olive oil to ensure that the cheese doesn't stick.
  4. Place the cheese on the grill or in the pan (work in batches if necessary) and grill each side for 2-3 minutes, or until the grill marks are evident and the cheese releases easily. Serve on the salad immediately.

Assembly

  1. Dress the salad with most of the dressing. Lay the grilled cheese over the salad. Finish with the remaining dressing, and pomegranate arils if using. You can also sprinkle with extra herbs if desired.

Recipe Notes

You can use any lettuce you like. If kale is in the fridge, go for it, just massage it between your fingers to help it become softened for pleasant eating.
If you can't source pomegranate molasses, then feel free to replace with an aged syrupy balsamic vinegar. However, I do encourage you to get a bottle of pom molasses, you will use it alot!