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Grilled Halloumi and Vegetables

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| Servings: Serves 4

Author’s Notes

Halloumi is a firm, white, brined cheese traditionally made from a mixture of goat’s and sheep’s milk. (Though today, cow’s milk is often used.) Like other low-fat cheeses, it is perfect for grilling. It sears and colors quickly when it hits the hot grill. The interior softens, but the cheese doesn’t melt; it just warms up invitingly. Martha Rose Shulman for NY Times Cooking.

Ingredients

  • ¾ pound halloumi
  • 2 sweet red peppers
  • 1 large zucchini
  • 1 Japanese eggplant
  • 1 bunch scallions, trimmed
  • Salt and pepper
  • About 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 2 teaspoons fresh thyme or crumbled dried mint
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon sumac (optional)

Instructions

  1. Prepare a hot grill.
  2. Cut halloumi into 8 to 12 slabs, about ⅓  to ½ inch thick. Cut peppers into wide pieces, slicing from top to bottom along the natural indentations. Discard seeds. Cut pieces in half crosswise. Slice the zucchini and eggplant on the diagonal, into ¼  to ⅓ inch-thick rounds.
  3. Season all vegetables with salt and pepper. Brush vegetables and halloumi with olive oil.
  4. Grill vegetables until tender and nicely charred, turning occasionally. If you’d like, use an outdoor grill pan to keep them from slipping through the grate. Scallions will be ready after 3 to 4 minutes. Peppers, zucchini and eggplant take about 10 minutes. Arrange on a platter.
  5. Grill halloumi, turning occasionally, for 2 to 6 minutes, until grill marks appear. When you press on the cheese, it should give but it should not be runny.
  6. Remove cheese to the platter with vegetables and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle cheese and vegetables with herbs and sumac, if you’d like, and serve.