Recipe: pomegranate and haloumi salad

I am excited to be sharing my first recipe on The Velvet Bow today! Cooking is one of my favourite ways to wind down after a long day and I really enjoy playing around with new recipes. Being a vegetarian, I am always looking for ways to get creative with flavours, and I have been challenging myself further lately to make sure the meals I make are super healthy.This recipe is my take on a dish I tried at a local restaurant a while ago. I can't exactly remember what was in it, other than haloumi and pomegranate but that flavour combination really stuck in my mind. My version is super quick at around 15 minutes total prep time!

Here's what you'll need (serves four):

• 250g haloumi cheese
• 150g fresh rocket (also called arugula)
• 1 x pomegranate
• 1/2 x lemon
• 1/2 medium zucchini
• A handful of fresh mint leaves
• A handful of fresh flat parsley
• A glug of extra virgin olive oil
• Rock salt and cracked pepper

Begin by placing the washed rocket in a large bowl. Break the herbs up into small leaves and add in too. Now squeeze the lemon over the top of the greens. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the zucchini as you would a carrot, but don't stop at just the skin - peel away into the flesh too. You should be left with a pile of ribbons of zucchini. Drop these in boiling water and blanch for two minutes. Then toss through the greens.

Here comes the fun part! Halve the pomegranate and squeeze the juice out over the salad. Keep squeezing until the seeds start to drop out too. Most should come out this way but if needed pull out the rest of the seeds with your fingers and add to the salad.

The last addition to this part is to drizzle over some olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Next comes the haloumi. Cut the cheese into strips 3-4mm thick. Heat a few drops of oil in a saucepan and lie the haloumi slices down in the pan.

Turn the slices over to cook on the other side one lightly browned, then transfer to a paper towel to soak up any excess liquid. Spoon the salad onto plates and top with a few slices of haloumi. Now go and gobble it up! If you can't find pomegranate, you could easily add orange segments instead as the citrus flavour goes really well with the saltiness of the cheese. Hope you enjoy!