Meet my new favorite thing: Honey Toasted Halloumi & Bacon Sandwiches with Marinated Vegetables. Piled with flavorful marinated veggies from your supermarket’s salad and/or olive bar, the name is a bit of a mouthful but I wanted people to know what they were dealing with here, right out of the gate. This recipe is a great way to flex your shopping muscles a bit, when you need to whip up a fast meal in not a lot of time. I love perusing the selection at my store’s olive and marinated vegetable bar – nearly every grocery store in Americas has one – and this sandwich is a great way to highlight some of those (usually delicious) ready-to-eat foods.
Nestled inside a toasted ciabatta roll (which, incidentally I was able to grab right next to the marinated vegetables AND Halloumi) I pile up some garlicky grilled artichoke hearts and roasted tomatoes, swimming in herb oil. Those are two heavy hitters when it comes to bringing major flavor and you can find them just about anywhere. Halloumi, a firm goat and sheep’s milk grilling cheese from Cyprus, is a bit of an obsession of mine (not using that term lightly here) and I simply cannot get enough of the salty, briny flavor. I do find that it is hit-or-miss as to whether I can find it or not, or whether my store has it on any given day. But it is much more readily available these days, and worth keeping your eye out for, as it lends a fantastic saltiness and texture to so many things (I love it on a cheese plate and in salads).
If, however, you can’t find it, these Honey Toasted Halloumi & Bacon Sandwiches with Marinated Vegetables works just as well with some gooey, fluffy, fresh mozzarella. I made both versions last week and savored every bite of each. Yes, I ate both – that’s how much I love this sandwich. The smoky bacon, salty cheese, garlicky, briny veggies and that drizzle of sweet honey at the end of the halloumi’s toasting makes for, in my humble opinion, one of the most spectacular sandwiches around. I made these for some friends recently and they were met with rave reviews and requests for the recipe. And so. Here we are.
P.S. if you want another fantastic way to put great use to your grocer’s salad bar items, this Loaded Pasta Salad with Creamy Grilled Artichoke Dressing is perfect.
Honey Toasted Halloumi & Bacon Sandwiches with Marinated Veggies
Max-flavor/heavy-hitting ingredients do strong work on your taste buds in this symphonic marriage that is MY PERFECT SANDWICH. Is that too much melodrama? Maybe. But I just love it so. If you can’t find roasted tomatoes, I suggest trying roasted red peppers, and if your store doesn’t carry freshly grilled artichokes, there are almost always marinated artichokes in the Italian foods section of most supermarkets.
Ingredients
- 8 to 9- ounce block of Halloumi cheese sliced into ¼”-thick slices
- Honey for drizzling
- 4 ciabatta rolls split in half and lightly toasted
- Mayo for spreading
- 8 to 10 slices of bacon cooked
- 1 cup of store-bought roasted tomatoes from the olive/salad bar
- 1 cup grilled artichokes from the olive/salad bar
- 1 cup arugula (give or take)
Instructions
To toast/grill the halloumi, place a medium nonstick skillet over med-high heat and add a drizzle of olive oil (a couple of teaspoons should do it). Cook the slices of Halloumi until golden brown, a minute or two per side, and drizzle a little honey over the slices during the last minute of cooking. The honey will warm up and sort of caramelize into the cheese. Sweet/salty heaven.
Spread the toasted ciabatta rolls with some mayo, both the tops and bottoms. Top with some bacon, tomatoes, artichokes, and some of the fried Halloumi. Sprinkle a about ¼ cup of arugula on each sandwich and drizzle each sandwich with a couple teaspoons of honey. Top and enjoy right away.
NOTE: sometimes I like to place the finished sandwiches on a baking sheet and toast/bake in a 350 degree oven for a few minutes, just to get them nice and warm, but that’s optional.
