Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Dressing
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This beautiful roasted cauliflower salad with tahini dressing is scented with cumin and coriander. Peppery arugula, crunchy roasted chickpeas, and sweet pomegranate seeds make this a delicious and hearty fall main course salad.
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Remember this roasted cauliflower from last week? Well turns out, not only is it a worthy companion to so many main dishes, but it’s also talented enough to be the star of the show!
Although… the tahini dressing is pretty spectacular too. Let’s call it a co-star!
I used to think a salad needed some kind of meat in it to satisfy the “main dish” criteria. But after multiple experiments with vegetarian salads, I have definitely come around.
Take this roasted sweet potato salad for instance. SO filling. Or this southwestern chopped salad. The creamy beans are all the protein you need there.
If you WERE to serve this roasted cauliflower salad as a side though, it would definitely pretty up any holiday table.
As a bonus the spiced roasted crunchy chickpeas were absolutely devoured by my 4 year old. Adding them to my simple healthy snacks repertoire!
Here’s the step by step.
How to make Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Dressing
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a large baking sheet with foil. Separate the cauliflower into 1-inch florets.
- Drain and rinse a 14-oz can of chickpeas and dry them a bit with a paper towel.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the cumin, coriander, cayenne, garlic powder and salt with 1/4 cup of olive oil.
4. In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower florets with 2/3 of the spice mixture, and spread in a single layer on one half of a large baking sheet.
5. Toss the chickpeas with the remaining spice mixture and spread in a single layer on the other half of the baking sheet.
5. Roast the cauliflower and chickpeas in the preheated oven for around 30 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender and caramelized and the chickpeas are dry and crunchy, gently tossing them once, about halfway through the cooking time.
*I keep them separate on the baking sheet because I find the chickpeas get crunchier that way.
6. While the cauliflower and chickpeas are roasting, whisk together the tahini, lemon, dijon, minced garlic, olive oil, honey, and salt in a small bowl.
7. Slowly add water one tablespoon at a time, until a creamy dressing consistency is reached.
8. To serve, fill two bowls with a bed of arugula, add some roasted cauliflower and chickpeas on top. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, and drizzle with tahini dressing.
*Not sure how to seed a pomegranate? Check out this tutorial.
I hope you’ll indulge me with one more photo cause this may be the prettiest salad I’ve ever made 😉
Enjoy! xx
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Other Vegetarian Main Course Salads you might like
Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Baby Kale
Grilled Halloumi and Strawberry Salad
Here are some products I love and used to make this Roasted Cauliflower Salad
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Ingredients
Salad
- 1 head cauliflower separated into 1-inch florets
- 1 14 oz can chickpeas
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups arugula
- 1/2 pomegranate seeded
Tahini Dressing
- 1/2 cup tahini
- 1/4 cup lemon juice 1 large lemon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dijon
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup water
Instructions
Salad
- Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Separate the head of cauliflower into florets of roughly equal size.
- Drain, rinse, and dry the chickpeas with paper towels.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, cumin, coriander, cayenne and garlic powder and salt.
- Toss the cauliflower with 2/3 of the spice mixture in a medium bowl.
- Toss the chickpeas with the remaining spice mixture in a small bowl.
- Spread the cauliflower on one half of the prepared baking sheet, and the chickpeas on the other half.*
- Roast in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until cauliflower is tender and caramelized and chickpeas are crunchy, gently tossing them once, after about 15 minutes.
Tahini Dressing
- While the cauliflower and chickpeas are roasting, in a small bowl, whisk together the tahini, lemon juice, olive oil, dijon, honey, garlic, and salt. Slowly whisk in the water until the desired consistency is reached.
To Serve
- Divide arugula between 4 bowls. Top each bed of arugula with chickpeas and cauliflower. Drizzle with tahini dressing, and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.
I occasionally try something new and my boyfriend’s reaction is usually “that’s different” or “that’s interesting”, but when I made this he said “oh man, this is really good…we should have this again”. And our four year old even ate it…she really liked the pomegranate 🙂
Well this totally made my day Becky!! Thank you so much for letting me know! Now I think I’ll try it on my kids too, sometimes I don’t give them enough credit 😉
Can I make this salad ahead or do I need to serve the cauliflower and chick peas warm?
Thank you
I usually serve it at room temperature, but I bet it’s good cold too! You can definitely make the cauliflower and chickpeas, as well as the dressing, ahead of time 🙂
This tahini salad dressing sounds incredible. I love that you mixed it with cauliflower, pomegranates, arugula and chickpeas. It sounds like an AMAZING combo! I am saving this for my dinner menu list to try next week!
Awesome!! Let me know how you like it 🙂
Just yesterday I was talking about tahini dressing and in comes this wonderful salad post! Pairing it with cauliflower and chickpeas (and roasted!) is just what I need. I’m making this salad today! Thanks for sharing.
Awesome Paula!! Love it when things come along at just the right time. Would love to know how it goes 🙂
Cauliflower and chickpeas are my staple for vegan meals. Love all the flavors in the recipe. Can’t wait to try it.
Thank you so much Prajakta! It’s really delicious 🙂