Moving to a bigger city has given me access to a much wider range of ingredients and I’m back to playing in the kitchen… even if Robert’s kitchen is smaller than the hallway of my old apartment and obviously designed by people who hate to cook for people who hate to cook!
Slice the aubergine approximately 1/2-inch thick. Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, basil, oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Pour the marinade over the aubergine slices, make sure all of the slices are well-coated, then set it aside to marinate while you sip wine, get the grill going, etc.
Slice the halloumi approximately 1/4-inch thick and set it aside. We used 250g of halloumi to one aubergine.
Grill the aubergine until it’s tender, about 6-8 minutes per side, brushing with the excess marinade.
Next, grill the halloumi until it starts to soften, about 3 minutes on each side. Halloumi is my new favorite ingredient because it’s delicious and because it’s so cool that you can grill slabs of cheese directly over a flame without it melting!
Toast the bread on the covered grill, then stack it with lettuce, the grilled aubergine and halloumi, and slather it with pesto.
*Robert makes a delicious homemade pesto :)
WILDSIDE says
I took your link off my blog in the wee hours, but of course, much to my chagrin, I turned on the computer again and found a way to come back. May be it is the food? I do like food. OK, the entertaining link to Denmark more likely, and can’t admit to the bridal dresses out loud, but that has lately been the draw. Reliving what might have been…
I understand aubergine, English version of eggplant, but what is halloumi? It seems to be a cheese? I grow lots of garlic and oregano, and I do make a fantastic crusty bread, but basil is proving a little more difficult… And in my climate, aubergine too. They can grow those in Denmark?!?
WILDSIDE says
Here’s the answer clipped from a wikipedia snippet in case anyone else is as uninformed as me! “Halloumi or hallumi /həˈluːmi is a Cypriot semi-hard, unripened brined cheese made from a mixture of goat’s and sheep’s milk, and sometimes also cow’s milk” — so a Greek cheese, I think…
OK, I go away now! Lots to do, not being done.
WILDSIDE says
Back again once more, but not for the last, I’m sure. I’m recovering right now, so a lot of time online — and you know that’s just an excuse!
There is lots to do offline & I am doing, but keep getting pulled back to the computer.
Right now I am alone at home listening to chefs on google, popping out the door to do things, but also surfing here online. I am curious.
But just wanted you to know, in searching for blogs like sage & simple, I came up with one (another American expat in Denmark) I was at and enjoyed earlier today, and this site http://www.internations.org/denmark-expats/guide/recommended-expat-blogs-denmark-15698/sage-sage-and-simple-8 which I’m about to read right now! I didn’t know you were so famous, otherwise, I wouldn’t have been posting so crazy much! (I didn’t at the other one.) I have really enjoyed your blog… And all I did was do a search on “beautifully frugal” — there you were! But in Denmark & which I was curious about… But you know that already.
Oop! Timer off on the stove, must go attend! Tho’ we live in different worlds, love the life as you depict it here and food too. I hope you & your soon to be hubby are (and am sure you are!) enjoying it too.
WILDSIDE says
Er, I meant commenting, not posting… But you probably got that!
WILDSIDE says
So I’m going to hog the comments here today.
This is one way I know we have something in common: “My only options were pretty much to call a taxi or borrow a shopping cart from a grocery store. I opted for the latter and spent the day pushing my belongings, including my cat, across town! It was a quiet summer Sunday, people had their windows open, and there I was pushing a howling cat in noisy shopping trolley on asphalt… good times!” I read this earlier, and laughed out loud, remembering a lot of my own experiences. And this was another major reason why I decided to linger on.
And then this: “My expat life in Denmark is a test of patience, strength, and endurance I never knew I had.” Those are 3 skills I know I have, but have never been to Denmark longer than 24 hours. So I admire you! Keep on the keeping on, but feel free to move on! We all do, or should.