Halloumi Freekeh Peach Salad #FoodieExtravaganza

This halloumi freekeh peach salad features pan-fried salty cheese, nutty freekeh and sweet peaches along with baby arugula and spicy cashews for a delightfully fresh and filling meal. Drizzle it with chili peach vinaigrette or your favorite dressing.

My self-imposed Salad Month starts in earnest with this beautiful salad that is perfect for a full meal for two or a starter for four. It’s what we call “fancy salad” at our house, which means it has greens, fruit, cheese and nuts. These vary by what we have on hand or feel like eating but fancy salad should contain those four essential ingredients.

But since this month's Foodie Extravaganza ingredient is peaches, that is the fruit I chose. If you love summer peaches, you are going to love this salad and this edition of Foodie Extravaganza. Make sure to scroll down to the bottom to see the other lovely peach recipes we have for you today.

In this case, the freekeh, another of the so-called ancient grains, adds a little more bulk, making this a light but filling salad, perfect for lunch or dinner just on its own. The day I put it together, my husband was away from home on a business trip, so I served it up and then added the chili peach vinaigrette to my portion. I ate the rest the next day and it was still fabulous.

If you’ve never cooked freekeh, check out this info and easy instructions on BBC Good Food. I cooked a whole cup, which gave me more than enough for this salad, as well as leftovers to add to another salad, another day. It’s lovely and nutty tasting, and rather reminds me of bulgur wheat.

Halloumi Freekeh Peach Salad

Ingredients – for 2 dinner salads or 4 starter salads
7 oz or 200g halloumi cheese
1-2 teaspoons olive oil
4 1/2 oz or 130g baby arugula or rocket
1 cup or 160g cooked cracked freekeh, well drained and cooled (More information here. https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/glossary/freekeh)
3-4 small peaches (Mine were tiny! More like apricot size.) or 1-2 larger peaches
1/4 cup or 40g spicy cashews or your favorite nut
8-10 mint leaves, sliced thinly
Chili Peach Vinaigrette or your favorite sweet, tart and spicy dressing.

Method
Cut the halloumi into slices about 1/4 in or 1/2cm thick. Heat a non-stick frying pan over a medium high heat and drizzle in the olive oil. Pan-fry the halloumi just a minute or two on each side until both are golden.

Set aside. Pit and slice your peaches into wedges.

Assemble the salad starting with the arugula and top with the freekeh. Add in the golden halloumi broken roughly into bite-sized pieces, the sliced peaches and the cashews.

Stack the mint leaves one on top the other and slice thinly. Sprinkle over the salad.

Tip: This salad is great as leftovers if you haven’t added the dressing so I suggest that if you think you might not eat it all the day you make it, dress each serving, rather than dressing and tossing the entire salad.

Drizzle with chili peach vinaigrette or your favorite dressing.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to this month's Foodie Extravaganza host, Wendy from A Day in the Life on the Farm. Check out all of our peach recipes!

• Halloumi Freekeh Peach Salad by Food Lust People Love
• Honey Peach Ice Cream by Tara's Multicultural Table
• Mini Peaches and Cream French Toast Casserole by Cookaholic Wife
• Peach and Orange Smoothie by Sneha's Recipe
• Peach BBQ Sauce by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Peach Crumble Bars by Palatable Pastime
• Peach Panna Cotta by Caroline's Cooking
• Peach Sorbet by Hardly A Goddess
• Peach Tomato Salad with Herb Vinaigrette by Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Foodie Extravaganza celebrates obscure food holidays or shares recipes with the same ingredient or theme every month.

Posting day is always the first Wednesday of each month. If you are a blogger and would like to join our group and blog along with us, come join our Facebook group Foodie Extravaganza. We would love to have you!

If you're a reader looking for delicious recipes, check out our Foodie Extravaganza Pinterest Board!

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Country Applesauce Pecan Muffins #MuffinMonday

Made with thick homemade applesauce, these country applesauce pecan muffins are rich with the flavors of brown sugar and cinnamon. They are a great breakfast muffin or afternoon snack.

Weekend before last, ahead of a routine test on Monday, my husband was instructed to start on a soft food diet. We headed to our big hypermarket for a shopping trip, picking up clear soups and other tasty morsels he could eat. “How about applesauce?” he said. “Sure,’ I replied. I turned back towards the fresh produce, as he turned toward the cans and jars. We both stopped.

“We are not going to buy applesauce!” I exclaimed. “You know how easy it is to make applesauce!” Plus, I pointed out, we were having pork chops for dinner – his last solid meal for a couple of days - so we’d need applesauce for those as well.

Sure, it takes a while to peel and core the apples (and toss them in a little fresh lemon juice), but you know exactly what you get when you are done. Pure applesauce, with a hint of lemon. If you choose your apples wisely, you don’t need to add sugar.

How to make applesauce:
Put the juice of one small lemon in a large mixing bowl. Peel, core and chop 3 Granny Smith apples and four Red Delicious, tossing the chunks in the lemon juice to stop them turning brown.

Place the lot in a heavy saucepan with 1/4 cup or 60ml water. Keep the fire on medium low and cover the pot with a tightfitting lid. Check it often, stirring the apples when you do. Cook until the apples are very soft and can be mashed easily with the back of a spoon. Taste the applesauce and add a little sugar, if necessary. Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.

Country Applesauce Pecan Muffins

Ingredients
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup or 125g pecans
2/3 cup or 132g brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/3 cup or 80ml canola oil, plus a little extra for greasing muffin pan
1 large egg
1 rounded cup or 250g applesauce (see instructions above or use store-bought sauce)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180C°. Toast the pecans on a dry baking pan as the oven preheats. Watch them closely and shake the pan occasionally so the pecans don’t scorch.  This won’t take long. Remove from the oven and chop coarsely.

Grease 12 standard muffin cups with a little canola or line the pan with paper liners.

Divide the chopped pecans, setting aside a generous handful to sprinkle on the muffins before baking.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, the larger pile of chopped pecans, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In another smaller mixing bowl, thoroughly whisk the oil, egg, applesauce and vanilla extract together.

Fold the wet ingredients into the dry until just mixed.

Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups. Top with the reserved chopped pecans.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Enjoy!

Many thanks to Karen from Karen’s Kitchen Stories for hosting this edition of Muffin Monday while I am on the road from the east coast to the west with my daughter. We are in New York state right now and are headed to Cleveland, Ohio this morning. As I mentioned in my last post, my Instagram feed is always kind of a weird mix of images, but for the next eight days, it's going to be filled with sights from our cross country trip. Do follow along!

Meanwhile, make sure to check out all the other goodies my Muffin Monday friends are sharing today!

• Banana Cookie Butter Oatmeal Muffins from Farm Fresh Feasts
• Blueberry-Peach Muffins from Palatable Pastime
• Cherry Surprise Muffins from A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Corned Beef Stuffed Muffins from Passion Kneaded
• Country Applesauce Pecan Muffins from Food Lust People Love
• Sour Cream Muffins with Mixed Berries from Karen's Kitchen Stories

#MuffinMonday is a group of muffin loving bakers who get together once a month to bake muffins. You can see all our of lovely muffins by following our Pinterest board.

Updated links for all of our past events and more information about Muffin Monday, can be found on our home page.

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Chili Peach Vinaigrette

Don’t let the pale peach color of this lovely chili peach vinaigrette fool you. The flavor is tart, sweet and spicy, in my opinion, the perfect combination. Use it to dress your favorite salad or as a marinade for chicken or pork.

This spicy recipe kicks off the start of a big, bold adventure. As you read this, my younger daughter and I are on Day 1 of a cross-country trip from Massachusetts to California. We left the home of dear friends in Hingham, MA today, and are on the high road to upstate New York. If all goes to plan, we’ll hit the west coast on Tuesday, August 8th.

Since it’s the height of hot summer in the northern, I decided to do something different on this blog for August. I’ll be sharing some of our favorite fresh salads and dressings, beginning with this chili peach vinaigrette.

(Of course, since it’s not actually August yet, I’ll still have a Muffin Monday post for you tomorrow.)

Our accommodations are an eclectic mix of Airbnb homes, interstate motels and even one lodge in the Grand Canyon National Park. No doubt we’ll be craving salads the whole way. My Instagram feed is always a strange place to be, but follow along to travel with us from sea to shining sea.

Chili Peach Vinaigrette

Ingredients – Yields 1 cup or 240ml
6 oz or 170g ripe, firm peaches, washed, pitted and chopped (1 large peach or 3-4 small peaches)
1/2-1 small red chili pepper
1/4 cup or 60ml natural apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup or 30ml canola or other light oil
1 tablespoon honey, or more, if needed
1 tablespoon minced onion
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder (like Coleman's)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Method
Blend all the ingredients together in a blender or in an appropriate vessel with a hand blender until smooth.

Taste and add more honey, if necessary. If you are lucky your peach will be sweet enough and the extra honey will not be needed.

Store in a clean jar in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Love salads and unusual dressings? Check out some of my favorites.

• Spicy Asian Noodle Salad with Lobster 
• Tuscan Bean Salad
• Summertime Fresh Corn Salad
• Passion Fruit Vinaigrette

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