Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Chickpeas, Tahini, Avocado and Watercress
Ingredients
- 1 medium head cauliflower cored, cut into 1.5-inch florets, and riced
- ½-3/4 cup olive oil extra-virgin
- 1 ¼ teaspoons Kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas (⅔ of a 15-oz can, rinsed and drained)
- 4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
- 1 tablespoon tahini
- ¾ teaspoon rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon honey
- ¾ cup fresh parsley leaves
- ¾ cup fresh mint leaves
- 1 garlic clove grated or minced
- ¼ teaspoon ground sumac
- ⅛ teasppopon crushed red pepper preferably Aleppo or Urfa
- 1 bunch watercress
- 1 avocado pitted, peeled, diced, for garnish
- toasted sesame seeds for garnish
- ½ teaspoon orange zest finely grated, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line two rimmed half sheet pans with parchment paper. In a large bowl, toss the cauliflower (florets or riced) with ¼ cup of the olive oil, 1 teaspoon of the Kosher salt, and 4-5 grinds of black pepper. Sprinkle the dressed cauliflower in an even layer over the two prepared sheet pans, then roast in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, until browned in spots and just tender (about 20 minutes for riced, 35 minutes for florets). Let cool to just above room temperature.
- Meanwhile, make the dressing in a blender by combining 2 tablespoons of the chickpeas with the lemon juice, orange juice, tahini, rice vinegar, honey, remaining ¼ teaspoon salt, ¼ cup of the parsley leaves, ¼ cup of the mint leaves, garlic, sumac, and crushed red pepper. Blitz until smooth. (Depending on the width of your blender base, this may be difficult to accomplish and may take several repetitions of scraping down the jar and restarting the blender).
- With the blade running, drizzle in 2 tablespoons (or up to ½ cup)* of the remaining extra-virgin olive oil.
- Wash the watercress, spin or pat dry, then trim off the stem ends. Place in a large clean bowl, together with the warm roasted cauliflower, remaining whole chickpeas, and the remaining ½ cup each of parsley and mint leaves. Toss with dressing to coat, check for salt and pepper levels and adjust to taste. Serve with the diced avocado, toasted sesame seeds, and orange zest on the side as optional toppings.
Notes
*I used only 2 tablespoons in my dressing and I found it to be the perfect consistency for me, but the original recipe calls for ½ cup, so your desires may differ from mine when it comes to adding oil to your dressing.