Tangelo, Halloumi & Olive Winter Salad

I have to begrudgingly admit that some Winter days are not too bad. This is when the sun is shining, there is no wind, I only wear one jacket and I can almost fool myself that it is spring. And for these days we eat salad. This tangelo salad with pan fried halloumi and olives is such a simple but tasty way to get your dose of Vitamin C and make the most of winter's fruity citrus bounty!

I was lucky enough to have some tangelos that my friend Valentina gave me. She has a large tangelo tree in her backyards that produces an abundance of fruit. I already made a tangelo cheesecake and that week I had made so many cakes and sweets that I thought it might be a good idea to make something savoury instead.

So one day I played with some things that I had in the fridge and this salad came about. I really loved the hot fried halloumi, cold tangelos and simplicity of this salad. It's refreshing but balanced and the dressing is done within 2 minutes too.

Apart from tangelos I have a bounty of food from my recent weekend in the Hawkesbury which I'll show you in this latest edition of In My Kitchen hosted by the lovely Sherry of Sherry's Pickings.

The first is some cider from Bilpin Cider Co which we visited last Saturday. There are five types of cider with the sweetest being the Blush with Pink Lady apples. There's the original as well as an Archibald Cloudy Apple Cider too and a non alcoholic cider too. The only ingredients are apples with no added sugar. We spent a lot of time there eating, drinking and enjoying the grounds and meeting the resident alpacas and sheep.

The second picture is of a range of goat's cheeses from Willowbrae cheese. Their goat's cheese is fantastic and doesn't have that sharp goaty aroma to it. All of the cheeses are fantastic and the surprise was the goat's yogurt which was softly tangy. If you love goat's cheese as I do, you'll love this (and you can buy it at the Carriageworks markets).

The last picture is a large bag of citrus that we got from the Anderson Farm set on the banks of the Hawkesbury River. There are mandarins and oranges but the ones that excited me were the seville oranges because they are so hard to get a hold of (they make excellent marmalade!). And if you want to pick your own sevilles you've got about 4 weeks left in which to do it!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like picking your own fruit? Do you have anything exciting in your kitchen?

Tangelo, Halloumi & Olive Winter Salad

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: minutes

Cooking time:

• 3-4 tangelos (depending on size-you can also use oranges)
• 200g/6ozs. halloumi cheese, sliced
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil plus extra for frying
• 1/4 cup tangelo juice
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup olives
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives
• Mint leaves

Step 1 - You need a really sharp knife to be able to cut oranges like this. Slice off the top and bottom of your oranges and then cut down the sides of the orange following the curve of the fruit. Cut into slices.

Step 2 - In a jug grate the garlic finely and then mix with the olive oil, tangelo juice, salt, pepper and chives. Set aside.

Step 3 - When close to ready to serving, heat a frypan on high and add the oil. Pan fry the halloumi slices until golden and burnished.

Step 4 - Lay the tangelo slices on the serving plate. Top with halloumi slices and olives and then drizzle dressing over. Decorate with fresh mint leaves.