Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini Dressing

Many of you have probably seen the roasted cauliflower recipe that was all over Pinterest a few weeks ago.  I subscribe to a lot of daily recipe e-mails so when a recipe for it also arrived in my inbox I decided to try it.  The verdict?  I. am. obsessed.  I make this once a week and could eat the entire pan!  The second time I made it Josh got stuck at work and got home later than anticipated. I started nibbling on this straight out of the pan while I waited for him and before I knew it half the pan was gone.  Before dinner even started.  Whoops.  The good news is, I'm not going to get fat eating cauliflower.  However, I can't imagine an entire head of it in once sitting is considered normal either!  Cauliflower is a great source of Vitamin C and is also full of antioxidants.  The sauce adds the perfect amount of zest to make this dish incredible and the red pepper gives it a little kick.

Roasted Cauliflower with Tahini Dressing

*recipe from http://www.aspicyperspective.com/

For Cauliflower:

2 heads cauliflower, cored and cut into florets

2 T. olive oil

salt

For Tahini Dressing:

1/3 C. Tahini sesame paste

2 T. lemon juice

2 T. water

2 T. honey

1 clove garlic

1 1/2 T. ground sumac (I don't have this and the recipe said you can sub lemon zest or lemon pepper seasoning.  I have used both subs and they work just fine)

1 1/2 T. fresh dill (or use 2 1/4 t. dry-this is what I always use)

1/2 t. crushed red pepper (I use red pepper flakes sometimes)

3/4 t. salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Spread the cauliflower on a rimmed baking sheet, in a single layer.  Drizzle with oil.  Sprinkle with salt and shake the pan to coat with oil and salt.

3. Roast in the oven 25-30 minutes.  Shake the pan once or twice during cooking to turn the florets.  I always use tongs to flip them all over.

4. Meanwhile, place all the ingredients for the tahini dressing in to a food processor or blender.  Puree until smooth.  If dressing is too thick, add another tablespoon, or two, of water.

5. Drizzle the dressing over the top and serve hot.



The roasted cauliflower fresh out of the oven.  This is only one head of cauliflower because I cut the recipe in half since Josh turns his nose at the idea of cauliflower.  I should really start making the full recipe.  I could eat more and it wouldn't look so bad.  Next time...




All the ingredients in the food processor before blending.



All mixed up and ready to drizzle on the cauliflower.

You should be able to find Tahini at any grocery store.  This will be the item you may have to purchase to make this recipe, but it's totally worth it.  It will probably run around $6 or more, but I've made this recipe several times and I still have about half left.  You could also always make some hummus with your leftovers.



Don't be fooled.  I ate way more cauliflower straight out of the pan while I was waiting for the spaghetti noodles to finish cooking.