Cheesy Vegetarian
Sheet Pan Halloumi Fajitas
These oven-baked halloumi fajitas have plenty of roasted veggies and thick slices of squidgy halloumi cheese, all cooked up on one big baking tray!
Have you ever made fajitas in the oven? It makes fajitas even more straightforward to make than usual – just chuck everything in the oven, then scoop it up into a tortilla. Perfect. And these sheet pan halloumi fajitas have the added bonus of thick slices of squidgy halloumi cheese!
Why cook fajitas in the oven?
If you’re not really into spending ages in the kitchen, cooking fajitas in the oven is a great way to cut down on your hands-on cooking time. You don’t need to stand at the hob, stirring a pan, so it’s very low effort.
Making oven-baked fajitas also means your hands are free for preparing your toppings. You can spend the time cutting some extra veggies, and preparing your dips, for example, as well as setting the table and getting drinks ready. It makes for a really stress-free dinner (and I’m sure we could all do with a few more of those).
What is halloumi?
Halloumi is one of my favourite ingredients in the word. It’s a salty cheese that can be sliced and cooked, without melting away into oblivion. If you’re not familiar with it, you can find out lots more in my post about how to cook halloumi.
Halloumi is perfect for baking in the oven, as it gets nice and crispy on the outside, and brings a wonderful flavour to these fajitas. Its saltiness stands up really well to the smoky fajita spices.
How to make fajitas in the oven
Step 1: Roast some vegetables
Chop up some fresh veggies, and spread them out on a baking tray. My fajita staples are onions, mushrooms and peppers – I don’t know why, it’s just such a beautiful combination.
Roasting the vegetables makes them extra delicious – they get sticky and sweet, with crispy bits on the edges. I’m sure it’s an objective fact that roasting is the tastiest way to cook pretty much any vegetable, so cooking these halloumi fajitas in the oven is a no-brainer.
Step 2: Add the sliced halloumi
When the vegetables are nearly ready, add some smoky fajita spices, and a few slices of halloumi – just plonk it right on top.
I like to slice my halloumi fairly thick, so it stays nice and squidgy in the middle. Thin slices can end up drying out a bit too much for my liking. So cut it nice and chunky!
Step 3: Roast for a little longer
Pop your sheet pan back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so, until the halloumi is golden brown and crispy.
Your kitchen will smell amazing by now.
Step 4: Serve in tortillas with extra toppings
Now, all that’s left to do is to scoop up a nice big spoonful of those roasted veg, and pile it all up in a soft flour tortilla. Don’t forget to add a couple of those squidgy pieces of halloumi too!
Ideas for fajita toppings
In my opinion, all Tex-Mex food is improved by the addition of a few fresh toppings. You can really use whatever you like – if you’re making these fajitas for a crowd, it’s a good idea to offer several different toppings, so people can customise their halloumi fajitas to their own tastes.
Here are a few ideas for fajita toppings:
- fresh avocado
- tomato salsa
- sweetcorn salsa
- guacamole
- sour cream
- salad leaves
- fresh lime juice
- chipotle sauce (I mixed mine with sour cream to make a smoky, creamy sauce)
I also usually add grated cheese to my fajitas, but since these halloumi fajitas already contain nice big chunks of crispy cheese, it’s probably better to avoid adding any extra cheese to these ones! Even I have my limits.
Stack everything up, wrap them tightly in their little tortilla blanket, and dig in!
Oven-baked halloumi fajitas
The end result is rather spectacular. These halloumi fajitas have it all:
Smokiness ✓
Spiciness ✓
Heaps of veggies ✓
Cheeeeeese ✓
What more could you want?
Sheet pan halloumi fajitas
Ingredients
- 1 onion, sliced
- 2 bell peppers, cut into strips (I used yellow and red)
- 5 medium mushrooms, sliced
- 1 1/2 tbsp oil, divided
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 200 g halloumi cheese, sliced (~ 8 slices)
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 1 tsp chipotle hot sauce
- 4 flour tortillas
- To serve: sliced avocado, fresh coriander (cilantro), salsa, etc.
Instructions
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Add the sliced onion, bell peppers and mushrooms to a large baking tray, and drizzle with a dash of oil. Roast at 190°C (Gas Mark 5 / 375°F) for around 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are fairly soft.
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Sprinkle the spices over the vegetables, and give them a stir. Top with the slices of halloumi, and drizzle with a dash more oil. Return to the oven for a further 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are very soft and the halloumi is golden brown.
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In a small bowl, combine the sour cream and chipotle sauce.
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Scoop the roasted vegetables and halloumi into 4 flour tortillas. Add your choice of toppings (lots of ideas in the blog post). The halloumi is best eaten immediately.
Nutrition
Calories from Fat 426
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for two halloumi fajitas with chipotle sour cream (1/2 the total recipe), not including any additional toppings.
If you love anything Tex-Mex, check out my bumper collection of vegetarian Tex-Mex recipes:
The post Sheet Pan Halloumi Fajitas appeared first on Easy Cheesy Vegetarian.
Cheesy Vegetarian
Creamy Three Bean Stew
This creamy three bean stew is the ideal healthy comfort food – with fresh veg and three types of beans, in a luxurious creamy tomato sauce!
This creamy three bean stew is basically my perfect dinner. It feels like a luxurious, comforting meal, but is packed with fresh vegetables and protein-rich beans (three kinds, in case you couldn’t have guessed) – all coated in a creamy, silky sauce with heaps of flavour (swoooon).
It ticks all the boxes!
Healthy comfort food
Veggie-packed comfort food has got to be my all-time favourite food category, and it doesn’t get much better than this creamy three bean stew. It’s absolutely full of goodness, but is about as far from rabbit food as you can get (I’ve never been much of a salad person).
After eating a meal like this, you feel totally satisfied, and your body thanks you too.
What’s in this creamy three bean stew?
There are 3 main elements to this hearty vegetarian stew:
- the vegetables – I chose carrots, courgette (zucchini) and mushrooms
- the beans – three different types! I used black beans, kidney beans and cannellini beans
- the sauce – made with tomatoes, creamy tomato soup, and an extra dollop of cream for good measure
As long as you make sure your bean stew contains these three elements, it will be a success – even if you decide to switch things up a bit (see below for some ideas for how to adapt the recipe!).
How to make creamy three bean stew
Step 1: Fry off the vegetables
Start by dicing your veggies, and adding them to a large saucepan. Cook them for a few minutes until they’re just starting to soften.
Step 2: Add most of the remaining ingredients
We’re already at the ‘add everything else’ stage – this recipe really couldn’t get much simpler.
Add the beans and sauce ingredients to the pan, and leave everything to simmer for a little while, until the sauce has thickened nicely and the vegetables and beans are totally soft.
Step 3: Make it extra creamy
As a little finishing touch, I like to add one more little dollop of something to make it extra creamy. To be honest, there are lots of ingredients you could use for this purpose, which would all have pretty much the same effect:
- cream
- sour cream
- Greek yogurt
- cream cheese
Just be careful if you’re using the low fat version of any of these ingredients, as low fat dairy products can sometimes split and curdle in this kind of situation.
It’s best to stick to the full fat version if you can, or if you really want to use low fat, temper the ingredient first. To do this, mix a spoonful of your hot stew into the yogurt (or whatever you’re using) first, then add it all back into the pot. This helps to minimise the temperature shock, and reduces the risk of curdling.
The difference that one good dollop of sour cream had on my three bean stew was really pretty amazing:
It makes the whole thing so much more luxurious, and transforms a simple bean stew into something seriously tempting.
How to serve three bean stew
This stew already contains all the most important food groups, so there’s no need to serve anything alongside it if you don’t want to. Just a nice big bowl and a spoon are all you need.
Personally though, I think a bit of garlic bread or some crusty bread and butter are absolutely perfect for mopping up the bowl and adding a nice bit of crunch…
How to adapt the recipe
One of the best things about this recipe is that it’s endlessly adaptable – it’s such a good fridge clearer. I would be willing to bet that almost all of you could make this three bean stew entirely from ingredients you already have in the house.
Who doesn’t already have a cupboard full of random tins of beans? And a fridge full of veggies that could do with being used up?
Just chuck ’em all in – the more the merrier.
You could choose different vegetables, different beans, or adjust the sauce ingredients, and you’ll almost certainly still end up with a really tasty meal. In fact, it’s pretty fun if it ends up slightly different each time you make it.
Creamy Three Bean Stew
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 onion, sliced or diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 medium courgette (zucchini), diced
- ~ 5 medium mushrooms, diced
- 400 g tin cannellini beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 400 g tin black beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 400 g tin kidney beans, drained (240g, or ~ 1 1/4 cups, when drained)
- 400 g (~ 1⅓ cups) tinned tomatoes
- 400 g (~ 1 1/3 cups) tin cream of tomato soup
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 vegetable stock cube, crumbled
- 2 tbsp cream, cream cheese, sour cream or Greek yogurt (full fat versions)
- Small bunch fresh parsley, chopped (optional)
Instructions
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Heat a dash of oil in a large saucepan, and add the diced onion and carrot. Cook over a medium heat for a few minutes, stirring regularly, until the onion has softened slightly. Add the garlic, courgette and mushrooms, and cook for a further 5 minutes, until the vegetables are beginning to soften.
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Add the three drained tins of beans, tin of tomatoes, and tin of tomato soup. Also add the oregano and black pepper, along with a crumbled stock cube (or just some salt, if you prefer).
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Bring to a simmer, and cook for around 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the liquid has reduced to produce a thick sauce.
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Add the cream, mix to combine, and serve warm, garnished with fresh parsley if desired.
Notes
It’s best to use full fat dairy products for cooking, as low fat varieties tend to split and curdle when added to heat. If you really need to use a low fat dairy ingredient, temper it before adding it to the stew. To do this, mix one spoonful of the hot stew into the low fat yogurt (or whatever it is), and stir it together. Then add it back into the stew. This reduces the temperature shock to the yogurt, and minimises the risk of curdling.
Nutrition
Calories from Fat 67
Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/4 of the recipe.
Love healthy comfort food? My veggie-packed slow cooker black bean soup is perfect:
The post Creamy Three Bean Stew appeared first on Easy Cheesy Vegetarian.
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