Saturday 30 January 2016

Baked Cheesezee Broccoli



This bake goes to my Hubby who is on High Fat Low Calorie (HFLC) / Paleo diet where,  sugar (in any form), grains, cereals, legumes, refined / hydrogenated  oil, and all high calorie / high in glycemic index foods are not allowed.  Time to time, I try to post few HFLC / Paleo recipes.

I tried this as a trial, but it turns out to be a really good bake. Chewy halloumi cheese with broccoli in a spicy, tangy sauce kind of mix is a divine dinner. Usually Halloumi is used to be grilled or fried but, I used it here to bake as I do not have enough stock of mozzarella, which is the ideal cheese for bake. 


Ingredients :     One  med-size broccoli (cut into florets, stems peeled and sliced or diced)       ;        1/4 cup of Schezwan paste      ;       1 tbsp of chopped garlic (fried in 2 tbsp of butter)          ;          1 tsp of soya sauce       ;      salt to taste      ;        250 grams of full fat halloumi cheese.

Ingredients for Schezwan paste :    15 no’s of Kashmir red chilies      ;      ½  Capsicum        ;           7 – 10 gloves Garlic (finely chopped)          ;      small piece of ginger  stem (finely chopped)          ;         ¼ tsp of  soy sauce           ;          ¼ tsp of vinegar        ;       1 tsp of tomato sauce      ;     1 ½ tbsp. of  coconut oil  ;      salt to taste


Procedure for Schezwan paste :  Remove the stems from red chilies, and soak them in hot water for about 30 mins and transfer it to a mixer grinder along with  chopped capsicum and grind into a fine paste and set aside.  (If require add some water)

In oil, stir fry the finely chopped garlic and ginger for about 2 -3 mins Add into the mixer along with chili paste and grind further to a fine paste and set aside. In a pan add oil, red chili paste allow to boil in low flame till the oil starts separating. Add soya sauce, vinegar, tomato sauce, and salt and cook further about 5min in low flame.   (note : Schezwan paste can be used in pasta and noodles preparation and can be stored in a air tight container in the fridge for month)  


Procedure for Cheesezee Broccoli :  After washing the broccoli allow it to dry and toss the broccoli florets with the schezwan paste, salt, soya sauce and butter fried garlic and spread them on a baking pan.

Sprinkle the halloumi cheese chunks all over the broccoli and transfer into  180°C Preheat oven and bake (without stirring) about 30 – 35 mins or until the edges are crispy.  (As halloumi has got very high melting point, it may not melt thoroughly) Serve it hot.