Roasting cauliflower and chickpeas in shawarma spices then drizzling with tahini-garlic sauce is one of our favorite things to make. They can be wrapped up in tortillas or used to top a salad with, or served over grains. This time I roasted the cauliflower and chickpeas along with kale and onions then served it over freekah with a quick tomato salad on the side. Shawarma spice blend recipe included, but store bought shawarma spice is available. No rules, just yum.
INGREDIENTS
2 cups cooked grain of choice
1 bunch kale, destemmed and roughly chopped
1 red onion, sliced into wedges, divided
1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3.5 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 tsp lemon juice
(Shawarma Spice Blend)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp pepper
(Tahini Garlic Sauce)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp cumin
6 Tbsp ice water
(Tomato Salad)
1 tomato, sliced into 16 wedges
1 mini cucumber
2 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray to keep kale from sticking. In a large bowl toss kale with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Using your hands, massage the oil into the kale to soften leaves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper then spread out on baking sheet.
2. Reserve 1 wedge of red onion for tomato salad. Toss remaining onion with 1/2 Tbsp oil until well coated. Season with salt and pepper then spread over kale.
3. Pat chickpeas dry with a towel. Toss chickpeas and cauliflower florets with 2 Tbsp olive oil, lemon juice and 1.5 Tbsp of the shawarma spice blend. Place over kale and onions on baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes.
4. While vegetables are roasting, make tahini garlic sauce. In a small bowl stir together minced garlic and lemon juice. Let sit 10 minutes. Using a small sieve/strainer, pour the garlic and lemon juice into another small bowl through the sieve, pressing the mixture with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard garlic. Add tahini, salt and cumin to strained lemon juice and stir. Wisk in ice water until creamy. Set aside. *add additional ice water if you like it thinner.
5. Prepare tomato salad by thinly slicing remaining red onion wedge then combining with tomatoes, cucumber slices, parsley, olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Serve roasted vegetables, chickpeas and tomato salad over grain. Drizzle with tahini garlic sauce. Serve with pita bread if desired.
