Roasted Cauliflower with Pickled Onions, Yoghurt and Tahini

We often get caught in thinking that meat has to be the main event of dinner, this whole roast cauliflower challenges this old school thinking.

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Ingredients

Pickled Onions

1 small red onion (slice as finely as possible, if you have a mandoline, it will make this job even easier) 
1/2 cup white vinegar
2 Tbsp boiling water 
1 tsp sea salt 
1 tsp white sugar (coconut sugar works well too but discolours the brine slightly)

Cauliflower 

1 medium cauliflower (outer leaves still attached)
3 Tbsp olive oil
½ tsp turmeric 
½ tsp ground cumin  
Salt and pepper 

Yoghurt Tahini Sauce

1/2 cup greek yoghurt (sub for coconut yoghurt if dairy-free) 
1/4 cup tahini
1 small garlic clove (crushed)
Juice of half a lemon, around 1 Tbsp
Salt and pepper to taste 

To serve 

A handful of fresh herbs -individually or a combination of a few.
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds – toasted flaked almonds would also be delicious.

Method

Pickled Onions 

1. In a jar or bowl big enough to fit the sliced onions, add the sugar, salt and boiling water. Stir to dissolve the salt and sugar. 

2. Once dissolved add the vinegar. 

3. Add the sliced onions, make sure all the onions are submerged in the vinegar. 

4. Leave to pickle for at least an hour.

Cauliflower
 

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius. 

2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add a generous pinch of salt.

3. While water is coming to the boil, trim the cauliflower. Cut the stem off so that the cauliflower can sit flat when placed on the tray (keep some of the outer leaves on as these will get crispy and delicious when roasted).

4. Add the cauliflower carefully to the water, stem down first, florets up to the ceiling and boil for 8 minutes. 

5. Remove from the water, place into a colander, florets side down to let excess water drain off, about 10 minutes. This ensures the cauliflower will get crispy, instead of streaming off the excess water. 

6. While the cauliflower is draining, in a small bowl combine the olive oil, turmeric and cumin. 

7. Pop the cauliflower cut side down onto the tray, drizzle or brush with spiced oil. Sprinkle with a generous amount of salt and pepper. 

8. Roast for 30 – 40 minutes, or until the cauliflower starts to get charred and crispy. 

Yoghurt Tahini Sauce

1. While the cauliflower is roasting it’s time to make the sauce which the cauliflower will sit on. 

2. Add all ingredients into a small bowl and mix well until the sauce is a smooth creamy consistency. If your tahini is dry and hard to mix with the yoghurt try placing all the ingredients into a blender, like a nutribullet until well incorporated. 

Plating up 

1. On the bottom of the plate create a bed of yoghurt tahini sauce, carefully place the cauliflower on top.

2. Top the cauliflower with pickled onions, sesame seeds and herbs.

Tips

The onions take around an hour to pickle – so get onto them first. They can be stored in a glass jar for up to a week in the fridge.
Pickled onions are a great addition to meat, tacos and curries adding acidity, brightness and crunch.

Variations

This recipe is also really nice with whole roasted broccoli, just chop off the stem so he can sit up right. Bare in mind this takes less time to cook so you won’t need to boil it first but just roast it at 180 degrees celcius for 30-40 minutes.

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