Bulgur salad with halloumi, baba ganoush, dressed courgettes & spiced carrot chutney

This is the first of our recipes using an ingredient bought at this past weekend's Norwich Food & Drink Festival.  We loved the spiced carrot chutney made by Candi's Chutney so much that we couldn't wait to include it in one of our dishes and so on Sunday evening, Mr Vegan Man took to the kitchen to put together this dish.

The recipe makes use of a bulgur wheat salad recipe, inspired by classic tabbouleh, that Mr Vegan Man makes regularly for lunches or for a tasty, healthy dinner.  It is great on its own or with just some griddled halloumi, but when Mr Vegan Man has a bit of time to spend in the kitchen he likes to treat WOTVM to something a bit more fancy and this recipe adds a few extra flourishes that really elevate it.

We think that this is one of the tastiest dishes we've cooked in a long while; it's inspired by some traditional mezze dishes but done in our own way and put together as a single cohesive plate of food.  The flavours all worked really well together with freshness and zing coming from the chutney and courgettes, complimenting the rich smokiness of the baba ganoush and the crisp, salty halloumi.  The bulgur wheat salad is packed with lots of fresh, punchy flavours and worked well with the other elements of the dish.

The recipe below will serve four people, with some bulgur wheat salad to spare for lunch the next day too!  Preparation and cooking time is 1-1.5 hours although you may need to allow a little longer for some elements to cool.

Ingredients:

For the bulgur wheat salad:

250g Bulgur wheat
2 sweet pointed red peppers
1 large clove of garlic
40g of cocktail gherkins/cornichons
75g of green olives
1 red chilli (or Scotch bonnet if feeling adventurous)
Small packet of fresh flat leaf parsley (approx. 30-40g)
Small packet of fresh mint (approx. 30-40g)
2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. granulated or caster sugar
Juice of 3 lemons

For the baba ganoush:

1 aubergine
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp tahini paste
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of a lemon
0.5 tsp smoked paprika

For the courgette salad:

2 large courgettes
2 tsp nigella seeds
2 tsp sesame seeds
Juice of a lemon
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar

To finish:

225g block of halloumi
1.5 tbsp. Candi's Chutney spiced carrot chutney

To begin, cut the aubergine in half length ways and make four small incisions in the flesh of the aubergine.  Cut the cloves of garlic in half, also lengthways, and stuff them in the cuts you've made as picture.  Drizzle over a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper before placing in an oven pre-heated to 180°C for 30-40 minutes.

Once the aubergine is cooked - it will be golden brown on top and slightly squidgy to the touch - remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes.  Scrape the aubergine flesh and garlic cloves into a bowl and add the olive oil, tahini, lemon juice and smoked paprika.  Use a hand blender to blitz the ingredients to a smooth, creamy texture.  You could use a food processor if you don't have a hand blender.

Set aside the baba ganoush until it is time to serve.  Leave the oven at 180°C and chop up the sweet pointed peppers into chunks about 2cm by 2cm.  Place the peppers with a little olive oil on a baking tray or small roasting tin and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes.  Whilst the peppers are cooking you can begin making the rest of the bulgur wheat salad.

Take a large saucepan and add the bulgur wheat after first rinsing it.  Boil a kettle full of water and once this comes to the boil, cover the bulgur wheat with the boiling water so that the water is just under 1cm above the level of the bulgur wheat.  Add a tablespoon of olive oil and a good pinch of salt and stir.  Cover the pan and place on a very low heat and leave for 8 minutes, then turn the heat off and leave for a further 15-20 minutes.  This method should ensure that your bulgur wheat is cooked through, retaining a bit of bite, with the grains light and fluffy and not at all stodgy.

Move the bulgur wheat into a large bowl and leave to cool whilst preparing the rest of your ingredients and by this time your peppers will have finished roasting so can be removed from the oven.  Crush the clove of garlic and finely chop the chilli, cocktail gherkins and green olives.  Add  these to the cooling bulgur wheat, along with the peppers, and stir.

Make the dressing for the salad by combining the olive oil, red wine vinegar and lemon juice.  Add this to the bowl and mix thoroughly so that the dry ingredients are all well-coated in dressing.  Finely chop the mint and parsley and finish the bulgur wheat salad by stirring the herbs through.  Set aside for serving.

Cut up the courgettes into thin strips, about 2-3mm is ideal if possible.  Heat a griddle pan over a high heat and coat the surface of the pan with a little oil.  Once the pan is nice and hot, add your courgettes in batches and cook for 2 minutes on each side.  This will be enough time for them to take on colour and flavour and to cook through fully.  In a bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar along with the sesame and nigella seeds.  Add the courgettes and mix, seasoning with a little salt and pepper. Cover and set aside for serving.

Chop the halloumi into slices about 0.5cm thick - a block this size should give you eight slices, enough for two per person.  Re-heat the griddle pan over a high heat and place the halloumi in the pan, cooking for about 3 minutes on each side or until they have taken on a nice char.  To get a crisscross effect, turn the halloumi ninety degrees during cooking.

Once the halloumi is cooked the dish is ready to plate up.  Add some small dollops of the spiced carrot chutney around the halloumi as the two work really well together.  Whilst we'd wholeheartedly recommend buying the chutney as it is so very tasty, if this is not possible then as an alternative grate 1 large carrot and mix with 0.5 tbsp of cider vinegar, 0.5 tsp of olive oil, 0.5 tsp of chilli flakes and a pinch of sugar and leave to sit for a few hours in a covered bowl, remixing occasionally.  This will make a good substitute but remember to make well in advance so the flavours can infuse properly.  A chilli jam or relish could also work with the dish.

WOTVM was really delighted with the dish - we both love Middle Eastern inspired food - it was packed with flavour and each mouthful was different and really got the taste-buds going.  Please give it a try and let us know how you get on by leaving a comment below or by emailing us.