Honey parsnips and halloumi salad with citrus dressing

Hi everyone! While one of the busiest month of the year has just started I want to help some of you who is still deciding on your Christmas dinner menu. I will share my variations for side dishes along with the tips about cooking for the festive dinner, time saving and some secrets from my personal experience.

Today I want to share with you this easy to make but wholesome and beautiful salad which goes good with red meat as well as with chicken and look good on the festive table.
Parsnips are not so popular as carrots, but I love them for their delicate flavour and sweetness. Roasted with coriander they have earthy flavour which goes great with the lentils! Crispy apples add texture and halloumi make it work all together good. You can try to use oranges instead lemons for the dressing as well.

Roasted parsnips and halloumi salad with citrus dressing

(serves 4)
300-400 g baby parsnips
2 cups green lentils
250 g halloumi cheese
3-4 apples (I used Pink Pearl apples, but apples like Granny Smith or Pink Lady work good here)

Marinade for parsnips:
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 tsp olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Honey-citrus dressing:
1 tbsp runny honey
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch of salt, pepper

Preheat the oven at 175C degrees.
Peel and cut parsnips into pieces. Place them into the large bowl, pour over with the olive oil, salt, pepper and coriander seeds. Toss all together.
Transfer the parsnips to a paper-lined baking pan and spread out in an even layer. Roast for about 40 minutes until caramelised.
Cook the lentils in a medium pan until soft for 15-20 minutes.
Cut halloumi into small pieces and cook on the grill pan (or a regular one if you don’t have a grill pan) for a few minutes.
Prepare the dressing. Mix honey, lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl and whisk together. Season with salt and pepper.
wash and cut apples into slices.
Serve. Place the warm lentils in a big bowl, add roasted parsnips, halloumi and cut apples. Mix together. serve on a plate drizzling over with the dressing. Enjoy!

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