My Cooking Attempts: Sweet Potato and Halloumi Burgers

After last week's recipe I had plenty of leftover halloumi cheese. I didn't want the cheese to go to waste so I scoured Pinterest for an interesting halloumi cheese recipe. I didn't want to fry or grill the cheese, as I had last week; I wanted to find a different use for the cheese. I found my something different in The Purple Pumpkin blog. Here Michelle makes a sweet potato and halloumi cheese burger. Since David loves sweet potatoes I thought I'd give it a go.

Recipe

• 450g sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped 
• 225g halloumi with chilli (or plain halloumi and ½ fresh red chilli, chopped), grated 
• 1 garlic clove, crushed 
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped 
• 2 tbsp wholemeal flour 
• Olive oil

Notes

I am no mathematician so I used Gourmet Sleuth's gram conversion calculator to make sense of the gram measurements  The halloumi cheese was easy, since the package was measured in grams. Based on the conversion calculator I figured 450 grams of sweet potato is just about 3 1/2 cups.

Also, for the wholemeal flour I used whole wheat flour and I subbed out the spring onions for green onions. I also added red pepper flakes and paprika to the mixture.

Steps

Peel, chop, and boil your sweet potatoes. Try to cut them into roughly the same size, so they cook at the same time. 

Meanwhile grate the cheese, crush your garlic, chop your green onions. 

Once the sweet potatoes are fork tender drain and mash. I didn't go too crazy with the mash, I wanted to leave a little texture for a heartier patty.

.

Please forgive me pot, clearly it's seen better days! As long as it works I will continue using it!

Once the mashed sweet potatoes have cooled a little, add the cheese, garlic and onions. FYI my halloumi did not have chile, so I added red pepper flakes and a pinch of smoked paprika to the mix. It will look something like this:

Form into patties. Cover and chill in the fridge so they meld and hold their shape while cooking. 

Cook them with a little olive oil. They can come apart as you cook them, so be careful. You can bake them in the oven, but I don't think they will get the same sear and crunch. If you'd like to bake them preheat your oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 10-15 minutes. 

I ate my sweet potato and halloumi cheese burger wrapped in lettuce. I was inspired by In-N-Out's animal style, protein style burger. I added pickles for crunch and a little mayo mixture for an extra layer of flavor. I just mix a spoonful of mayo with a few drops of Sriracha and a little seasoning salt.

Verdict: The sweet potato and halloumi cheese patty was a little soft, the texture will not leave you thinking "humm I wonder if this is a meat patty," but it is super delicious. David and I both loved the burgers. Next time I will probably form and fry them as cheesy, sweet potato tater tots. I think the soft texture might be better in that format.