Turkey and Halloumi Skewers

Much as I love wholesome, wintry food like Toad-in-the-Hole and stew, it's getting to the time of year when those kinds of dishes feel just a bit too heavy. Turkey is fairly cheap and very good for you, and halloumi is one of the few cheeses I actually like, so I combined the two to create some vaguely Mediterranean skewers:

Quantities are fairly variable, and much like a soup or stew, you can use up any slightly past-their-best veg. To make 2 skewers I used:


For the skewers:
2 handfuls turkey breast, diced
125g halloumi cheese, cut into chunks
4 small button mushrooms
1/2 courgette
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red onion
4 cherry tomatoes


For the marinade:
8 tbsps olive oil
3tbps lemon juice
3 tbsps fresh mint, roughly chopped
2 tbsps fresh coriander roughly chopped
1 spring onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
Pinch of cayenne pepper

• Mix all of the marinade ingredients together in a bowl. Add the turkey and halloumi to the marinade, making sure all the pieces are well covered.
• Leave for at least 30 minutes to marinate (or if you're rushed for time, leave for as long as it takes the to prepare the vegetables).
• Chop all of the vegetables (apart from the mushrooms and cherry tomatoes) into chunks.
• Thread the chunks of vegetables, turkey and halloumi onto skewers (if using wooden skewers, soak them in water for at least 20 - 30 minutes before use).
• Place the skewers under a hot grill until the turkey is cooked al the way through and the halloumi is beginning to brown (approximately 10-15 minutes), turning occassionally.
• Serve with cous cous or rice and natural yoghurt.

 [N.B. I imagine this would work well on a barbecue, or even with a griddle pan, though I have't tried it myself]

Students! If you're worried about budgetting for this, leave out the halloumi and buy reduced or on offer veg and poultry. Cous cous is a bit more expensive than rice, but it fluffs up so much that a normal sized packet will last a good few months. Plus you can make it in a mug! (Fill the mug 1/3 of the way up with cous cous, then pour over enough boling water to cover, put a clean teatowel over the mug, then leave for 5 minutes. Done.)

Also, I can definitely recommend Sainsbury's Basics natural yoghurt (or equivalent own brand yoghurt). It tastes no different to the more expensive Sainsbury's yoghurts and I'm fairly sure it's actually the same yoghurt with different packaging (I have stood in the aisles and done the slightly nerdy packet comparisons)