Sweet and crunchy watermelon balances with the crumbly saltiness of the manouri cheese in this salad, whilst the sharpness of the salsa verde really ties the whole dish together. I wouldn’t suggest firing up a barbecue just for the purpose of grilling the cheese, but if you happen to have a fire going for other culinary purposes (or otherwise), then use it — the manouri will taste better for it. If you cannot find manouri cheese use haloumi.

Adapted from Berber & Q, Ebury Press

www.berberandQ.com

• For the salsa verde: Whisk the lemon juice and mustard together in a bowl, and add the shallot, olives, anchovy, capers and garlic. Whisk the oil into the sauce. Set to one side until required. The salsa verde can be made several hours ahead of time, just be sure not to add the mint until just before serving.
• For the salad watermelon and grilled manouri: 
• If you are not using a barbecue, heat a cast-iron ridged skillet pan on the stovetop over high heat until smoking hot, and griddle-score the manouri on both sides in a cross formation.
• Remove the manouri from the grill and transfer to a serving platter alongside the watermelon chunks. Drizzle the salsa verde over the top and garnish the salad with some picked mint leaves, the almonds, chillies and a final drizzle of herb oil for good measure.

Serves 2 as a main or 4 as a side