Roasted Cauliflower with Lentils + Tahini

Warm Roasted Cauliflower with Lentils + Tahini is hearty enough for a meatless main, but also makes a good side dish on your table. It’s packed with flavor and texture, and has both Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavors with tahini, almonds and herbs.

This dish has some of my favorite ingredients ~ warm roasted cauliflower, lentils, herbs, almonds and a maple-tahini sauce. It’s the kind of thing I can have for dinner, served over quinoa or rice (for a complete protein), and with a side leafy green salad.

Roasting cauliflower brings out the nutty flavor

The base of this dish is the roasted cauliflower and lentils, then you build on that with whichever variation of the recipe you like.

I offer two versions of this dish:

Version 1

Version 1 with radicchio and smoked almonds

Version 2

Version 2 with pomegranate and mint

Recipe rundown… 

For the base of this dish, you just toss chopped cauliflower florets with a little avocado or olive oil, some spices, s&p, then roast at 450° for 25ish minutes.

The key to getting that nice browned color is twofold: high heat and plenty of room for the cauliflower on the roasting pan. Otherwise it just steams in the oven.

Cauliflower is available year round, of course. But it’s actually in season during the fall and winter. Not a cauliflower fan? Sub butternut squash, carrots or sweet potatoes.

Then to the roasted veg base you can go with either recipe variation, or even combine the two!

Black (aka beluga) lentils go great in this dish

Lentils make this dish a little more substantial and add some plant-based protein. For salads such as this I like french or black lentils, as they retain their shape well after cooking.

Not familiar with cooking lentils? Read my All About Lentils post + a recipe.

Maple tahini brings this dish together

The sauce is a breeze, just whisk tahini, a little maple syrup, and a pinch of crushed red pepper. A little water to thin, some salt & pepper, and the sauce is done. It’s literally less than two minutes.

Bonus ~ this sauce is great on many things, so you may want to make extra to keep on hand!

Depending on which version you go with, the only other components of the dish are the smoked almonds (or toasted in recipe version 2), pumpkin seeds, radicchio and parsley and/or mint and pomegranate seeds.

Then assembly is easy, toss the warm roasted cauliflower and lentils with a little of the sauce. Then top with nuts and seeds and drizzle a little more sauce. Serve warm or at room temp.

And like I said at the start of the post, you can serve with grain of choice a leafy green salad for a complete meal.

If you make this dish be sure to let me know! You can comment below or tag me on Instagram, I love to see your recipe creations!

Like this recipe? You might like these…

Mujadara (vegan, GF)

Spiced Lentil Soup (vegan, GF)

Print Recipe

Roasted Cauliflower with Lentils + Tahini

Warm roasted cauliflower with lentils, herbs, almonds and maple-tahini dressing

Course

Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish, Meze, Salad, Sides

Cuisine

Mediterranean, Middle Eastern

Keyword

anti-inflammatory, dairy free, diabetes friendly, fall/autumn, gluten free, grain free, healthy, kosher, low sugar, salads, spring, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, winter

Prep Time

15 minutes

Cook Time

25 minutes

Servings

servings

Ingredients

Cauliflower ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower chopped into bite-size pieces
• 1 tbsp extra virgin avocado or olive oil
• 1 generous pinch ground sumac optional
• 1 generous pinch ground cumin optional
• 1 head radicchio (if using) chopped
• 1 handful fresh herbs parsley &/or mint chopped
• 1 cup cooked lentils such as black or french
• 1/4 cup smoked or toasted almonds see blog post for notes
• 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds &/or pomegranate seeds

Tahini sauce dressing ingredients

• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1 tsp pure maple syrup
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• to taste salt & pepper

Course Dinner, Lunch, Main Dish, Meze, Salad, Sides Cuisine Mediterranean, Middle Eastern Keyword anti-inflammatory, dairy free, diabetes friendly, fall/autumn, gluten free, grain free, healthy, kosher, low sugar, salads, spring, vegan, vegetables, vegetarian, winter Prep Time 15 minutes Cook Time 25 minutes Servings servings Ingredients Cauliflower ingredients 1 head cauliflower chopped into bite-size pieces 1 tbsp extra virgin avocado or olive oil 1 generous pinch ground sumac optional 1 generous pinch ground cumin optional 1 head radicchio (if using) chopped 1 handful fresh herbs parsley &/or mint chopped 1 cup cooked lentils such as black or french 1/4 cup smoked or toasted almonds see blog post for notes 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds &/or pomegranate seeds Tahini sauce dressing ingredients 2 tbsp tahini 1 tsp pure maple syrup 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes to taste salt & pepper

Instructions

1. heat oven to 450°, line a large sheet pan with parchment paper
2. toss cauliflower with avocado oil, sumac, cumin, and salt & pepper to taste; roast until tender, about 25 minutes
3. meanwhile, prepare tahini sauce: in a small bowl whisk tahini, maple, crushed red pepper, and 2 to 3 tablespoons of water to thin to a drizzling consistency; season to taste with salt & pepper
4. to assemble: toss warm cauliflower with lentils and remaining ingredients of choice, then drizzle with a little more of the tahini sauce and serve warm

Recipe Notes

Recipe serves 2 as a main course, 4 as a side dish

Original recipe created by Jerran Boyer
www.healthnutchefs.com