Recipe of the Month: Garden Vegetables and Halloumi in Red-Wine Vinaigrette

I recently visited a friend’s luscious garden for the harvest moon. The normalcy of robust gardens in Vermont still blows my mind after living here for many years. I have learned so much from the COC farm crew on the basics of gardening, like how to take the suckers off of tomato plants and how to get the most leaves on basil. It’s cool to find out new tips from a neighbor on how to grow the largest pumpkins (apparently the humungous pumpkins you see at the fair are watered with milk?). This recipe is inspired by a New York Times Cooking recipe, with some heavy adaptations to allow for more home garden veggies and slightly different flavor.

Ingredients:

2 zucchini
1 c cherry tomatoes
1 block (8 oz.) halloumi cheese
½ c bell peppers
1 c white beans
2 c white rice (uncooked)
¼ c red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper

Dressing:
2 T olive oil
2 cloves minced garlic
2 T fresh chopped parsley
¼ t red pepper flakes
1 T lemon juice
Optional: Parmesan cheese

Instructions:

Cook rice.

Slice the zucchini and pepper, and halve the tomatoes. In a pan, fry the veggies until slightly golden brown. Add the red wine vinegar, beans, and a pinch of salt and pepper, and cook an extra minute or two. Remove from pan.

Slice the halloumi cheese and fry in the pan until golden brown. Combine the veggies and cheese.

To make the dressing, emulsify all the ingredients.

Dish out the meal by plating the rice, and topping with the veggie-cheese mix. Drizzle the parsley dressing over the top. Top with parmesan cheese if desired.