Beat the summer heat with this wholesome, satisfying, and healthy egg, fried halloumi and berry baby kale salad with lemon caper basil dressing. Tender baby kale is topped with hard boiled eggs, salty + chewy fried halloumi, sweet summer berries, pungent green onions, and a most delicious lemon caper basil pesto dressing. Serve this salad with some bread and butter or more pesto for the perfect low-fuss summer supper.

When it’s sweltering outside, I tend to turn to hearty salads for low-fuss dinners that don’t require me to turn on the oven. This particular salad with baby kale, fried halloumi, eggs, berries, and lemon caper basil pesto dressing is what I whipped up for dinner last night, when the temperature was 35 degrees C with the humidity. It sure hit the spot with us, and I hope that it becomes one of your summer favourites, too! (Also, who else is loving Mondays lately with The Bachelorette? It’s one of my guilty pleasure shows and I actually look forward to Mondays when it’s on. Ha. And I always make myself a big bowl of peanut butter banana soft serve with vegan hot fudge sauce and berries to enjoy while watching. It’s hard to beat!)

egg, halloumi, and berry baby kale salad: the details

This salad is very easy to make, and you just have to cook the halloumi and the eggs. All of the other components, you simply throw into a big salad bowl: baby kale, green onion, and berries. The dressing went through somewhat of an evolution as I was making it. Initially, it was going to be a simple citronette with some finely minced basil added. However, last week, I made a delicious lemon caper dressing for one of my Ottawa Farm Fresh exclusive recipes, and I enjoyed it so much, I think I am going to add capers to most of my salad dressings going forward. (Well, not most, but wherever they make sense!) I also had a small amount of basil pesto in the fridge, so I added a tablespoon of that, too. And man oh man, do the flavours in this dressing ever pop! You will love it.

ingredients you’ll need

For the salad, you’ll need halloumi, baby kale, strawberries, blueberries, green onions, and eggs.

For the dressing, you’ll need extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and zest, dijon mustard, maple syrup, garlic, capers, sea salt, pepper, basil, and basil pesto.

the method

Fry the halloumi: Warm up a large skillet (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat. Working in two batches, add the sliced halloumi and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned and somewhat crispy. (When you first place the halloumi on the skillet, a lot of liquid will be drawn out of it, but this is normal and evaporates after about 20 seconds.) Remove from the skillet and set aside to cool.

Make the dressing: Combine the oil, lemon juice and zest, dijon mustard, maple syrup, garlic, salt, pepper, basil, and basil pesto in a jar. Secure the lid and shake to emulsify.

Make the salad: Place the baby kale in a large salad bowl. Add the berries, green onions, eggs, and halloumi. Drizzle desired amount of dressing over top and eat!

more wholesome summer salad recipes

Lastly, I hope that you love this egg, fried halloumi, and berry baby kale salad as much as I do! If you make it, let me know how you enjoyed it by leaving a comment and rating below the post. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made. 🙂 Have a great day, and I’ll be back here tomorrow with healthy banana nutmeg doughnuts with caramel glaze.