Roasted Cauliflower Chickpea Salad

This warm roasted cauliflower chickpea salad is a quick and easy meal and is topped with a delicious tahini dressing. It makes the perfect appetizer, lunch or even dinner. Feel free to double this recipe to use up the entire cauliflower and can of chickpeas (as it’s written, it makes 2 servings) – the roasted cauliflower and chickpeas could be refrigerated and reheated for another meal.

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook time: 18 minutes

Servings: 2

Ingredients

• 1/2 can of chickpeas (540mL)
• 1/2 cauliflower
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Cracked pepper
• 1/4 cup roasted unsalted almonds (optional, omit for nut-free)
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
• 2 cups greens of choice (approx), such as lettuce, arugula, spinach…

Tahini Dressing

• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/2 lemon (about 1-1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice)
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp maple syrup
• Water

Equipment

• Baking sheet

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F.
2. Cut 1/2 cauliflower into florets and drain and rinse the chickpeas.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then add chickpeas and cauliflower florets. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper then mix with your hands to coat the florets and chickpeas.
4. Once the oven is ready, roast for 15-20 minutes, until the cauliflower and chickpeas are starting to turn slightly brown.
5. Roughly chop 1/4 cup of roasted almonds.
6. Cut open a pomegranate and remove the seeds.
7. Prepare the tahini dressing by adding tahini, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, salt and maple syrup to a jar. Close and shake well until the dressing is well mixed. Add a little bit of water (not much if you want a thick dressing, or a few tsp if you want a more liquid dressing).
8. Wash greens of your choice and roughly chop into bite-size pieces.
9. Once the cauliflower and chickpeas are roasted, assemble the salad. To a shallow bowl or large plate, add the greens, then roasted the cauliflower and chickpeas, chopped almonds and pomegranate seeds. Top with tahini dressing, toss and enjoy!

Notes

*For a nut-free version, simply omit chopped almonds. They could also be substituted with pumpkin or sunflower seeds.