The Critic Goes Chef Has The Look of Love....

You gaze deeply into each others eyes, oblivious to the candle light sending your shadows dancing across the wall. The smell of fresh roses wafts through the room, mixing with her perfume....

Hands up those of you who will be hoping to spending an evening like this but will more than likely end up with smudges of flour across your nose, a decent burn mark on the arm and in a foul mood as various things will have burned simultaneously? *raises hand*

Well you're in luck! Here is the first installment on the V-Day "Critic Goes Chef."

So, ideally for V-Day you don't want food that could make a mess or potentially be smeared across a face or dress. (We females do not take to that kindly, a lot of effort has been put into our ensemble!) Nor do we want food that will get caught in the teeth, spinach may taste yummy but it fails to set a romantic mood.

Halloumi Skewers with Parsley and Lemon Salsa

It's quick. It's easy. It's not overly messy. Perfect.

Ingredients

2 x 250g Haloumi Cheese

4tbs Olive Oil

32 wooden skewers

Lemon Salsa

3tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil

15 Black Olives (chopped finely)

A Small Bunch of Flatleaf Parsley (alternatively, like me, use Coriander) Finely Chopped

1tsp Small Capers (rinsed)

Zest of 2 Lemons

2tsp Red Wine Vinegar

1 Small Red Onion

1. Place all of the salsa ingredients into a bowl and mix well. Set aside.
2. Cut each block of halloumi into 8 equal slices. Cut each slice in half so you end up with 32 pieces
3. Heat 1tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan. Brown the halloumi on both sides then drain on some paper towel. Push the halloumi onto the skewers so it looks like a lollipop. NB: These will need to be done in batches, adding oil each time.
4. Serve warm with the salsa.
5. Gaze into each others eyes
6. Realize somethings burning in the kitchen
7. Panic!