Recipes › Peas (Sugar Snap) › Sugar Snap Pea, Halloumi and Cucumber Salad with Sumac and Pomegranate
Sugar Snap Pea, Halloumi and Cucumber Salad with Sumac and Pomegranate
A showstopper summer salad built around a serious pile of raw and lightly charred sugar snap peas alongside salty, squeaky halloumi and cool cucumber, all pulled together with a sharp sumac and lemon dressing. The peas are used two ways — some left completely raw for maximum snap, others quickly charred in a dry pan to bring out their sweetness. It is the kind of salad that makes you forget you are eating something healthy.
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Ingredients
- 450 sugar snap peas, tops and strings removed
- 250 g halloumi, sliced 1cm thick
- 1 cucumber, halved lengthways, seeds scraped out, sliced on the diagonal
- 80 pomegranate seeds
- 15 g fresh mint leaves, larger leaves torn
- 15 g flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
- 2 tsp sumac
- 1 lemon, juice only
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- ½ tsp sea salt flakes
- 1 pinch black pepper, freshly ground
Method
- Whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, pomegranate molasses, 1 teaspoon of the sumac, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Taste — it should be tart and a little sweet. Set the dressing aside.About 2 min
- Divide the sugar snap peas into two equal batches. Leave the first batch completely raw. Take the second batch and place them in a dry, very hot frying pan or griddle pan set over a high heat. Cook for 2–3 minutes without moving them much, so they blister and char in spots. You want dark marks on the outside but the peas should still have crunch inside. Remove from the pan and set aside to cool slightly.About 4 min
- In the same pan (no need to wash it), cook the halloumi slices over a medium-high heat for 2 minutes per side until deep golden brown. Halloumi needs a hot pan and patience — resist moving the slices early or they will stick. Once golden, remove from the pan and cut each slice in half.About 5 min
- Arrange the cucumber slices across a large platter or in a wide serving bowl. Scatter over both batches of sugar snap peas — the raw and the charred — distributing them evenly. Nestle the warm halloumi pieces among the peas and cucumber.About 2 min
- Spoon the dressing evenly over everything. Scatter over the pomegranate seeds, mint leaves and parsley. Finish with the remaining teaspoon of sumac dusted over the top. Serve immediately while the halloumi is still warm.About 2 min
Tips
- The two-way pea approach — raw and charred — is worth doing rather than skipping. The contrast between the fresh snap of the raw pods and the sweetness of the charred ones adds a lot to the finished dish.
- Get the pan properly smoking hot before the halloumi goes in, or it will steam rather than colour. A dry pan, no oil, very high heat — that is what gives it that golden crust.
- Pomegranate molasses can vary a lot in sweetness. Taste the dressing and if yours is very sour, add a small pinch of sugar to balance it.
Ring the changes
- Replace the halloumi with thick slices of grilled courgette or aubergine to make this fully vegan.
- A small handful of toasted pine nuts scattered over the top adds a welcome richness and texture.
Keeping it
Best eaten straight away while the halloumi is warm and the peas are crisp. If you have leftover undressed components, store them separately in the fridge and assemble to order. Once dressed, the salad does not keep well — the cucumber weeps and the peas lose their crunch within a few hours.
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