Halloumi Tacos With Pepita Salsa, Cherry Tomatoes And Avocados

Halloumi tacos with homemade salsa macha, cherry tomatoes and avocados will give a little Middle Eastern kick to your taco night routine!

This post is a collaboration with Happy As a Yam. I am proud to only work with people and businesses I truly believe in!

What is Pepita Salsa, or Salsa Macha?

All this talk about halloumi cheese is great, you may think, but what about the other ingredients in our tacos? For example, what is pepita salsa, also known as Salsa Macha?

Salsa Macha is an unusual rich sauce that hails from Veracruz, Mexico. Unlike more typical salsa that is based on fruit or even veggies, Salsa Macha is made from ground and processed dried chiles, garlic, nuts and seeds.

A lot of Salsa Macha is made largely from peanuts or sesame seeds. For my recipe, I wanted to make a salsa based on another seed: pumpkin seed salsa.

In this deeply flavored salsa, ground and toasted pumpkin seeds are joined with mixed dried chiles, sesame seeds and garlic and ground into a delicious, slick pumpkin seed salsa. This salsa goes beautiful with the cheesy flavor of hallomi cheese, but I also love drizzling it on tofu, roasted cauliflower or using in other vegetarian tacos of your choice.

For example, it would go really well on my friend Katia's Curried Jackfruit Tacos.

You can find my pumpkin seed salsa recipe here.

Blogger Spotlight: Happy As a Yam

Let me tell you a bit about the blogger who sparked up this delicious recipe: Katia from Happy As a Yam.

I got to know Katia through Instagram, where her colorful and beautiful feed of gluten-free and vegan recipes made me drool every time. Once we started chatting, I was thrilled to discover Katia was also based in Montreal, spending her days cooking and baking gluten-free dishes, just like me!

With a unique palette, an eye for international recipes and an easy-going, light and bright photography style, Happy As a Yam's recipes offer something for everyone. I can't wait to try her gluten-free and vegan croissants, her savory portobello mushroom spaghetti squash boats, or her eggplant ratatouille once my favourite summer vegetable appears!

For this recipe collaboration, Katia developed mouthwatering Curried Jackfruit Tacos that would put any pulled pork recipe to shame. They remind me of my vegan pulled pork sandwich, only they sound even better!

Halloumi Tacos Ingredients

To make these veggie tacos with grilled halloumi cheese, you will need:

• 1 halloumi
• 1 avocado
• 8 corn tortillas (i love these Brown Rice Tortillas)
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• ½ purple onion
• Fresh cilantro, to taste
• Lime wedges, to taste
• ½ cup pumpkin seed salsa (salsa macha)

How to Make Halloumi Tacos

Make Salsa Macha

Follow my recipe to make a fiery pumpkin seed salsa, or use your favorite store-bought pepita salsa.

Toast Tortillas

Lightly toast your corn tortillas in the same pan you used to fry the halloumi cheese. Lay 2 pieces of grilled halloumi cheese per taco, topping them with halved cherry tomatoes, and a few slivers of purple onion.

Pan fry halloumi cheese

Drizzle a non-stick pan slightly with oil, and preheat it to medium-high heat.

Add halloumi cheese to the pan; cook for 2 minutes on one side, and 1 minute on the other.

Remove halloumi from the pan. (To see other methods for cooking halloumi cheese, check out my post on this amazing Cypriot cheese).

Assemble halloumi tacos:

Dilute desired quantity of pumpkin seed salsa with a few teaspoons of water to make it more drizzable. Top halloumi tacos with a generous drizzle of salsa and a generous sprinkling of fresh cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Adaptations

vegan and dairy-free

To transform these grilled halloumi tacos into vegan tacos, substitute the halloumi cheese for sliced extra firm tofu. Sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper before grilling the tofu slices the same way you would prepare the halloumi cheese.

keto, paleo and whole 30

For keto tacos or Whole 30 tacos, sub the corn tortillas for thinly sliced daikon radish or a keto tortilla. You will end up with miniature, bite-size halloumi cheese tacos that are adorable!

Accompanying Dishes

The following dishes can go nicely alongside these halloumi tacos with pumpkin seed salsa, the ultimate in Mexican - Middle Eastern fusion!

Recipe

Tried and loved this recipe? Please leave a 5-star review below! Your reviews mean a lot to me, so if you've got any questions, please let me know in a comment.

Halloumi Tacos With Pepita Salsa, Cherry Tomatoes And Avocados

Ksenia Prints

Halloumi tacos with homemade salsa macha, cherry tomatoes and avocados will give a little Middle Eastern kick to your taco night routine! Our Salsa Macha is a take on pepita seed salsa or pumpkin seed salsa, and it's a delicious sauce you'll go back to over and over again.

5 from 30 votes

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Cook ModePrevent your screen from going to sleep

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Tacos

Cuisine Mexican, Middle Eastern

Servings 4 people

Calories 649 kcal

Equipment

• Non-stick pan
• blender OR
• Food processor

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 halloumi
• 1 avocado
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes
• ½ purple onion
• Fresh cilantro to taste
• Lime wedges to taste
• ½ cup Pumpkin seed salsa (Salsa Macha) Recipe here: https://immigrantstable.com/pepita-salsa-macha/

Instructions

 

Make Salsa Macha, or grab your favorite salsa

• Follow my recipe for making salsa macha, or use your favorite store bought salsa.

To grill halloumi cheese:

• Drizzle a pan slightly with oil, and preheat over medium-high heat.
• Add the halloumi cheese slices directly to the pan; for 2 minutes on one side, and 1 minute on the other.
• Remove halloumi from the pan, and use in the halloumi tacos immediately.

Assemble halloumi tacos:

• Lightly toast your corn tortillas in the same pan you used to fry the halloumi cheese. Lay 2 pieces of grilled halloumi cheese per taco, topping them with a few avocado slices, some halved cherry tomatoes, and a few slivers of purple onion.
• Dilute desired quantity of sunflower seed salsa with a few teaspoons of water to make it more drizzable. Top halloumi tacos with a generous drizzle of pumpkin seed salsa and a generous sprinkling of fresh cilantro. Serve with lime wedges.

Notes

To transform these grilled halloumi tacos into vegan tacos, substitute the halloumi cheese for sliced extra firm tofu. Sprinkle each slice with salt and pepper before grilling the tofu slices the same way you would prepare the halloumi cheese.

For keto tacos or Whole 30 tacos, sub the corn tortillas for thinly sliced daikon radish. You will end up with miniature, bite-size halloumi cheese tacos that are adorable!

Nutrition

Calories: 649kcalCarbohydrates: 51gProtein: 13gFat: 48gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gSodium: 354mgPotassium: 1144mgFiber: 15gSugar: 13gVitamin A: 5821IUVitamin C: 40mgCalcium: 128mgIron: 5mg

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