Looking for a vegetarian option that is a little different? This one has all sorts of lovely textures and tastes. You can serve this as a bowl as indicated in the recipe, or you can do a component or two and enjoy it that way. I like to serve this as a serve-yourself sort of option so people can take as much or as little as they like of each bit.
The tahini sauce adds a lot of oomph to the spicy cauliflower and sweet potatoes. I hope you try this!
Spicy Roasted Cauliflower Bowls with Sweet Potato, Chickpeas And Tahini Sauce
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 large head cauliflower or 2 smaller heads (about 2 1/2 - 3 lbs), leaves trimmed but left intact unless too wilted
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. kosher salt
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. sweet paprika
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced and smashed. a little
1 jalapeño, stemmed, halved, seeded, and thinly sliced crosswise
Tahini sauce:
juice of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, smashed
1/2 cup tahini
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 to 1 cup water
To serve:
Roasted sweet potato chunks (tossed 1/2 to 3/4 inch chunks with a bit of olive oil, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper and then roasted at 400° for about 30 minutes before sliding in the cauliflower, and then finished roasting them together).
Cooked quinoa or other favorite grain (see guide for cooking here)
Chickpeas (from a can or cooked from scratch)
Cilantro leaves, coarsely chopped, for garnish
Directions
Heat the oven to 400°. On a cutting board, quarter the cauliflower, leaving the core and leaves intact. Make sure you wash well at the base of the leaves as they can get pretty grimy in that spot. Transfer the quarters to a large bowl. In a small bowl, combine the olive oil, salt, turmeric, paprika, garlic, and jalapeño. Toss the cauliflower with the oil mixture, coating each piece as well as possible. Arrange the cauliflower on a foil-lined baking sheet; scoop whatever oil mixture might be left in the bowl all over the cauliflower. Roast until tender at the core and lightly browned on the outside, about 45 minutes. Heat the broiler and broil the cauliflower until lightly charred on the top, 1 to 2 minutes.
Meanwhile, make your tahini sauce: combine lemon juice and garlic and let sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Scoop out garlic, and add tahini to lemon juice. Add salt and cumin, and stir to combine. Gradually add water, continually stirring, until tahini sauce is the consistency you like.
Remove the cauliflower from the broiler and transfer to a serving dish.
To serve, scoop quinoa onto a plate, top with sweet potato, chickpeas and cauliflower. Pass tahini sauce to drizzle on top. and sprinkle with some cilantro for color. Enjoy!
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