Puy lentil and halloumi salad

 A lovely homely salad, great for entertaining friends with plenty of other little dishes as a Mediterranean style meal.

200g of ready cooked puy lentils (or 80g dried puy lentils)
1 pack halloumi
Half a red onion
Juice of half a lemon
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
splash olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1.  If cooking dried puy lentils, cover with boiling water with a stock cube and cook for 20 minutes.
2. Slice the onion into thin strips
3. Mix the onions, balsamic vinegar, puy lentils and lemon juice together in a bowl and leave. The acidity of the lemon juice and vinegar will take the sting out of the onions.
4. Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan on a medium-high heat. Slice the halloumi into thin strips and place into the dry griddle pan. Flip within 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown on the griddle pan side.
5. Mix the halloumi with the puy lentils, and season with a little salt and a good pinch of black pepper. Be careful with the amount of salt as halloumi is very salty.
6. Add a splash of olive oil to dress.
7. Can be served hot or cold. 

Guest blogger recipe by Jack. 

Homemade falafel and halloumi mezze wraps with roasted peppers and chilli mint yogurt

Mezze is one of my favorite cuisines. I love to have the option to pick and choose my flavour combinations, textures and heat. This style of cooking can take time to prepare but it is definately worth it, as you will end up with some complex flavours that will please anyone who is lucky enough to taste it.

My falafel didn't cook as well as they should have after my first batch. This was because I didn't wait for the oil to heat back up to temperature (350 degrees or higher). If your falafel balls don't sizzle as soon as they touch the oil, they are at risk of not sealing and therefore just disintergrating as they cook. This can also happen if there is too much water in the mixture, so when preparing keep the water to a minimum.

Also, if you didn't want to deep fry your falafel, you can heat a couple of tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and shallow fry them, flipping them once they are brown on one side. I have tried baking falafel before but  they became dry and crumbly, which is not what you want from a good falafel.

Homemade falafel and halloumi wraps with roasted peppers and chilli mint yogurt

Serves 4
Falafel
2 cans of tinned chickpeas,drained OR 200g dried chickpeas, soaked overnight
3 garlic coves, crushed and diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp turmeric
handful of fresh coriander,stalks and all, chopped
1/2 tsp paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Plain flour
Sunflower oil (over 2 inches for deep frying, or 2 tbsp for shallow frying)

Peppers
1 red onion, sliced in half then into strips
1 yellow pepper, sliced into strips
1 red pepper, sliced into strips
A good lug of olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chilli mint yogurt
2 medium chillies, diced (we left the seeds in but it depends on your chillies and your tastes)
Bunch fresh mint leaves, chopped
Bunch coriander leaves,chopped
300g Greek yogurt
Squeeze lemon
Freshly ground black pepper

Extras
250g halloumi, sliced
Pot of organic houmous
Sweet chilli sauce
Olives
Sundred tomatoes in oil
Iceberg lettuce
Watercress, spinach and rocket
Cherry tomatoes,sliced in half
8 tortilla wraps

1. Heat the oven to 220 degrees and place peppers and onions in a heatproof dish. Drizzle with plenty of olive oil, season and place in the oven.
2. Bring all the falafel ingredients together and whizz in a food processor or use a hand blender. Slowly add the plain flour until the mixture holds together well when moulded. Heat the oil over a high heat.
3. Combine all of the chilli mint yogurt ingredients together.
4. Roll the falafel into balls a little smaller than ping pong balls and flatten a little. Drop into the hot oil. They should begin to sizzle straight away. Flip the falafel if you are shallow frying once they have browned. You will need to do this step in batches. Once one batch is cooked, place the falafel on kitchen paper to drain and begin the next batch.
5. Heat a griddle or frying pan on a high heat and dry fry the halloumi slices. Flip once one side has begun to brown
6. Heat up the wraps in the oven for a couple of minutes once your falafel is almost fully cooked
7. Serve falafel, halloumi,  peppers, yogurt, salad and other extras all seperate so friends and family can have the pleasure of building their own wrap. I recommend putting everything in the wrap (see above).