Vegetarian Summer Squash Spaghetti with Corn, Lentils & fried Halloumi

Last night we were gonna make a simple summer dinner using some of the ingredients we had on hands. Lately our fridge has been filled with summer squash (aka zucchini) and fresh corncobs. It is two of the in-season foods we have been enjoying a lot and they are such simple and yet delicious veggies that you can easily prepare. We have been grilling or boiling the corncobs and afterwards smeared them with butter and salt, yum! And the summer squash has been added to smoothies for extra volume and vitamins, transformed into spaghetti and of course made into fritters almost on a weekly basis.
So as you can imagine both corn and squash had to take part in our dinner. And since I lately have been re-discovering my love for beluga lentils and creamy tahini dressings, it felt natural to include those as well. We also needed a little protein in this meal and talked about using some chicken from the freezer, but I had a large chunk of halloumi cheese that I have been wanting to play with for some time and now actually felt kind of appropriate!
So as we started cooking I thought it would be fun to make a spontaneous photo shoot and share a totally simple everyday summer meal with you. So here you go! This is a typical simple dinner that we would enjoy on a lazy sunday evening. Jonas was very excited about it and loved both the halloumi (It almost taste and looks like chicken!!) and the creamy tahini dressing. I actually missed a little sweetness in the meal and thought that some raisins or dried cranberries would do the job, so I included these in the finished recipe. You really can use whatever you have on hands for this meal. If you have a leftover of some pesto, use that instead of the tahini dressing, or fry up some chicken instead of halloumi and add more veggies if you feel like it. Hope it will inspire you to use the the wonderful seasonal summer produce and make some tasty green meals.

Summer Squash Spaghetti w. corn & fried Halloumi
Serves 2 large portions

2 zucchini squash 2 tsp salt
100 g beluga lentils
2 corncobs, or 1/2 cup frozen/canned corn
A handful dried raisins/dried cranberries (optional)
100-150 g halloumi cheese

Tahini dressing
4 Tbsp tahini
Juice from 1 lemon
1 tsp coconut sugar or honey
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
Water
Salt

Directions
Cut the summer squash into spaghetti using a julienne peeler, carrot peeler or spiralizer (Save the soft and seedy centre and use it in you morning smoothie or juice). Place the spaghetti in a colander and gently toss it with salt, let the water drain for 15-20 min. Now quickly wash the squash spaghetti in cold water and carefully squeeze and drain the spaghetti free of any excess water, you can pad it try in a kitchen towel to be on the safe side. Place the spaghetti in a bowl.
Cook the lentils according to the directions but add 1 tsp vegetable stock to the boiling water. Add the cooked and drained lentil in the bowl with the spaghetti squash.
If you use fresh corncobs, boil them for 5 min in salty water and use a sharp knife to cut the corn of a long each sides of the cob. Add the corn to the bowl together with coarsely chopped raisins or cranberries.
Make the tahini dressing by stirring all of the ingredients together. This will form a thick paste – now you slowly add a little water until it reached a smooth semi thick texture, close to yoghurt. Gently toss the dressing with all the ingredients in your bowl, easiest to use your hands here.
Slice up the halloumi cheese and fry it on a pan on medium heat until golden. Season to you preference.
Serve the spaghetti dish straight away and top it with slices of golden halloumi.