Monday Meal 6: Halloumi Salad

Now this is a very easy lunch for you to make. It can take 5-10 minutes to put together because all it really is, is veg and some halloumi cheese fried off in a pan. Being in Ascot and the surrounding areas personal training most of the day I like to make sure I have a healthy lunch with me. If you’re the kind of person who is on the go around lunch time. This is a great little meal for you to have without having to spend a lot of time preparing in the morning or the night before. Just cut up all the veg add some fried halloumi (or other protein) drizzle some dressing over the salad and enjoy.

This salad is full of colour. Which means it will have lots of vitamin and minerals in it. And at least 20g of protein. I was astonished that half a block of halloumi cheese has over 20g of protein. However, it also has a high fat percentage so make sure you take that into consideration. What you can also do to add some carbs to your meal is prepare a small rye bread peanut butter sandwich. I find this quite dry so I add a little bit of honey to the sandwich. Which is in fact adding more carbs yes. If you look at the nutritional value for rye bread and usual bread. There is a massive difference because in the rye bread you have seeds. Which is another great way to get omega oils into your body without eating fish.

Ingredients for the salad:

Handful Rocket salad

5-6 Baby tomatoes

1/4 Pepper (any colour)

1/4 or 1/2 Avocado

2 inches of Cucumber

Half Halloumi packet

TBSP Hummus

TSP Mustard

TSP clear honey

How to put together the halloumi salad together:

1. Cut all the vegetables into edible sizes to go on the plate.
2. Place a large handful of rocket salad on the plate
3. Place the rest of the vegetables on top of the rocket
4. Add the tbsp of hummus to the side of the plate, this will add some more flavour.
5. Heat a frying pan up on the hob without any oil in it. When frying halloumi, you don’t need any oil.
6. Place the halloumi into the pan and fry until each side is golden.
7. Place the cheese on the top of the salad.
8. Grab a small pot, add the tsp of honey and mustard to it and mix together. You can add some olive oil or balsamic vinegar if you prefer those.
9. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and enjoy.

Added extras you might want to know:

Nuts and seeds are a great way to add extra nutrition to your diet. They will also keep you going a lot longer throughout the day. I usually have nuts and seeds as a small snack during the day.

When preparing a salad make sure that you are making the plate colourful and with a lot of green veg. The green veg will give you the best sources of vitamin A, C, K and folate. So, don’t forget to add them to your day to day diet.

You can also add more carbs to your salad. If you have boiled brown rice or quinoa to go as the base. It will add some more fibre to the dish. Making it better all round, I didn’t add any to this salad because I was in a rush, hence the rye bread peanut butter sandwich.

Ascot Personal trainers note:

I like to make a salad for the days that I can’t make it home for lunch. If I’m out all day personal training, I make sure that the salad includes lots of veg, a protein and a slow release carbohydrate. Many people don’t have this outlook on lunch. However, I promise that your health will start to get better if you follow these tips on what to put into a salad.