Tahini Cauliflower (Paleo / Vegan)

There are some recipes that are truly so delicious that I’m almost afraid to make them. This is one of those recipes. I can’t trust myself around it….

This is the second in my series of Telhami family recipes! If you haven’t made the Telhami Baba Ganoush yet, then I highly recommend you check that out. I am so grateful that the Telhami family is allowing me to share some of their recipes on my blog with you! With something this delicious, it would be a shame not to share it. When Jamila Telhami made me this dish for the first time, I just about died and went to heaven. Tahini and cauliflower are the two foods I’m most addicted to. Paired together? I have no words.

One of my favorite snacks has always been roasted cauliflower with tahini on top, but when you actually cook them together and let the tahini melt into the cauliflower, it brings the flavor to a whole new level! I don’t typically use onions in recipes, but my stomach does fine with this. Jamila Telhami explained to me that the onion provides a very necessary extra dimension of flavor – and she is definitely right.

This is the perfect, easy side dish to cook up if you’re looking for something that packs a BIG flavor and will impress anyone you’re serving. Like I said, though, watch out. It takes all of my willpower to save any leftovers of this. I am so grateful that Jamila taught me how to make this – it’s my favorite of her recipes. Cauliflower and tahini go together like peanut butter and jelly. They were meant to be. Pair those with a few of my other favorite flavors like lemon and curry, and it’s a done deal. 

Speaking of leftovers, I actually think this does get better with time (if you happen to not eat it all at once). In general I tend to like leftover veggies even more than freshly roasted, because the vegetables have had time to soak in any spices, seasonings, and oils they were cooked in. This is especially true in this case, because the cauliflower gets the chance to fully soak in the flavors of the tahini, lemon, and salt.

Feel free to adjust the thickness of the tahini “sauce” however you like it. Personally, I like a thick sauce on top, but you can add more liquid if you’d like it a bit thinner. You can leave the onion out if you are sensitive to it. It will still taste delicious, but I admit – I think the caramelized onion really does add something special. Leave it in if you can! For the curry powder, I like to use my DIY blend because it’s not spicy and doesn’t contain any strange ingredients. Feel free to use whatever curry powder is YOUR favorite! 

This dish is gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo, vegan, vegetarian, sugar-free, Whole 30 approved — the whole shebang. If you love cauliflower and/or tahini, this recipe was made for you! It’ll go well with anything, but I especially love pairing it with some ground beef or lamb. There are a lot of variations of tahini cauliflower out there, but there’s something about this recipe in particular that hits it right on the head! If you make it, be sure to tag me!

Tahini Cauliflower (Paleo / Vegan)

Ingredients:

• 1 chopped head of cauliflower
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• Avocado oil
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Himalayan pink salt
• Black pepper
• Curry powder
• Tahini Sauce (below)

Tahini Sauce:

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup water
• pinch of Himalayan pink salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 400*F. Roast the cauliflower in the oven for 20-30 minutes until cooked and toasted. The edges should start to get crispy / browned.
2. While the cauliflower is roasting, make the tahini sauce. Add the tahini, water, lemon juice, and pinch of salt into a small bowl. Stir everything together vigorously until the mixture is more like a liquid. You can add a bit more water if you need to thin it.
3. Sauté the yellow onion with a mixture of avocado oil and olive oil in a sauté pan. Add curry powder, salt, and pepper, and let the onion caramelize.
4. Once everything is cooked through, add the roasted cauliflower and store it all together with the onion for one minute.
5. Add the tahini sauce on top and mix it all together so that everything is coated.
6. Let this cook for 2-5 minutes until it’s all coated together, and the sauce has melted into the cauliflower and onion.
7. If you feel like the sauce is too thick, you can add a little more lemon juice to loosen it up.
8. Enjoy!