Halloumi & Mango Noodle Salad

Halloumi and mango may seem an unlikely pairing, but it’s a good combo, trust me. Sweet and salty, chewy and juicy, this is a light meal for a summery day. If you don’t eat dairy, then I have good news -- baked tofu swaps in perfectly in place of the halloumi!

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup (5 1/2 oz / 100g) frozen, shelled edamame

• 5 1/2 oz (150 g) dry soba or udon noodles

• 4 1/2 oz (125 g) halloumi cheese, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices

• 1/2 large ripe mango, peeled and cubed

• 2 scallions, thinly sliced

• handful of basil, coarsely chopped

• handful of cashews or peanuts, coarsely chopped

Cilantro–coconut dressing

• 2 handfuls of cilantro leaves

•  1/4 oz (10g) piece of ginger root, peeled and minced or grated

• juice of 1 lemon

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar or honey, or 2 tablespoons Date Paste

• 1 to 2 pinches of crushed red pepper

• 1/3 cup coconut milk

The Savvy Cook by Izy Hossack

Directions

1 Put the frozen edamame in a colander in the sink. Add the noodles to a saucepan of boiling water over medium heat. Cook for the length of time specified in the package directions, then pour the noodles and cooking water over the frozen edamame in the colander. Let sit for 30 seconds (to thaw the edamame), then rinse under cold running water to prevent the noodles from clumping.

2    Heat a dry, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the sliced halloumi and cook until light golden on the underside, 2 to 4 minutes, then flip over and cook on the other side. Remove from the pan.

3    Blend all the dressing ingredients together. This can be done in a beaker using a handheld blender or in a countertop blender. If you don’t have a blender, just chop the cilantro leaves as finely as possible and stir into the remaining dressing ingredients.

4    Toss the noodles and edamame with the cubed mango, scallions, basil, and cashews or peanuts. Divide the salad between 2 plates and top with the dressing and halloumi slices.

Vegan: Replace the halloumi with baked tofu. Use granulated sugar or maple syrup in the dressing.

Gluten-Free: If you can find gluten-free soba noodles, use those, otherwise use flat rice noodles (the ones usually used for pad Thai) instead. Make sure your soy sauce or tamari is certified gluten-free.