Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Dressing

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

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a large baking sheet with foil. Separate the cauliflower into 1-inch florets.
2. 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 ¼ cup of olive oil.

4. In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower florets with ⅔ 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

Mediterranean Buddha Bowls

Grilled Halloumi and Strawberry Salad

Southwestern Chopped Salad

Here are some products I love and used to make this Roasted Cauliflower Salad

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Roasted Cauliflower Salad

5 from 6 votes

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Course: Main Dish, Salad

Cuisine: American

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Servings: 2

Calories: 542kcal

Author: Ann Otis

Ingredients

Salad

• ▢ 1 head cauliflower separated into 1-inch florets
• ▢ 1 14 oz can chickpeas
• ▢ ¼ cup olive oil
• ▢ 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• ▢ 1 teaspoon coriander
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cayenne
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 4 cups arugula
• ▢ ½ pomegranate seeded

Tahini Dressing

• ▢ ½ cup tahini
• ▢ ¼ cup lemon juice 1 large lemon
• ▢ 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ▢ 1 teaspoon dijon
• ▢ 1 tablespoon honey
• ▢ 1 garlic clove minced
• ▢ ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ▢ ¼ cup water

US Customary - Metric

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 ⅔ 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.

Notes

*I separate the chickpeas and cauliflower on the baking sheet because I find the chickpeas get crunchier that way, but you can toss them together with all of the spice mixture and roast together if you want to keep it simple.

Nutrition

Calories: 542kcal | Carbohydrates: 44g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 39g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Sodium: 1878mg | Potassium: 1403mg | Fiber: 11g | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 1403IU | Vitamin C: 160mg | Calcium: 205mg | Iron: 5mg

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