Mediterranean veggie and chickpea bowl
The Mediterranean diet is one of the healthiest diets in the world. It consists of lot of vegetables, garlic, fruit, olive oil, wine and little meat. Lot's of people grow their own vegetables and fruits in the back yard and only harvest what they need for one meal, so it can't get any fresher. The people cure their own olives, bring some of the olives to a corporation where their combine all the small batches of olives, press them and at the end of the day you take your own olive oil home. The Mediterranean people eat their fruit and veggies when they are in season, so when they are at their best, taste and nutrient wise.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 red onions, peeled, thinly sliced
- 2 red peppers, deseeded and cut into stripes
- 2 large zucchini, quartered and thinly sliced
- 2 handful cherry tomatoes, halved
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp ground paprika
- 1 tsp ground smoked paprika,
- 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
- 2 tins chickpeas, drained
- 200 g Halloumi cheese, thickly sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, roughly chopped
- some lemon olive oil for drizzling (optional)
- 4 ciabatta rolls to serve
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 C.
- Heat the oil in large pan and fry the onions for 5 minutes until they start to brown slightly.
- Add the peppers, fry them for 3 minutes before you add the zucchini and tomatoes.
- Mix in both paprika types, salt, pepper and vinegar and cook for 5 minutes.
- While the veggies are cooking place the Halloumi cheese on a baking sheet which is covered with baking paper and bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until the cheese becomes golden brown.
- Once the veggies had their 5 minutes cooking time, add the garlic and chickpeas and let everything warm through.
- Season with salt and pepper before you scatter the parsley over and drizzle with the lemon olive oil (optional).
- I either put the Halloumi on top of the veggies and serve the bread rolls with butter on the side or I half the rolls, put the veggies on each half and top them with the Halloumi cheese.