Saturday, March 12, 2022

Baked Cauliflower in Tahini Sauce

cauliflower and tahini bake

The combination of cauliflower in a tahini sauce is amazingly delicious. After assembling the ingredients, I baked it in a casserole dish in the oven for 20 minutes.

Baked cauliflower in tahini

I recently was invited to lunch at a friend's home in our condo building. Suzanne is from Morocco and is one fabulous cook. She made all kinds of salads and interesting dishes.


Moroccan salads

She served many traditional Moroccan salads, such as a cooked beet salad, a cooked carrot salad, a cucumber and onion salad, a tomato salad with cilantro and herbs, red pepper salad, and a hot rice and vegetable salad. 

Moroccan carrot salad

The star of her luncheon recipes (for me) was a baked cauliflower and tahini sauce casserole that I just loved. (she also had a platter of fish and a platter of meat- which of course I did not eat).


Like most good cooks, Suzanne's recipe was in her head and she did not have precise measurements. I wanted to duplicate it, so I had to experiment. I also wanted to reduce the fat content. This is what I did. 

Cauliflower Soup, Vegetable Soup

Tahini, like natural peanut butter, often separates in the jar when it sits on the shelf- leaving a layer of oil and a layer of paste. To reduce the calories and fat, I poured off the oil and discarded it. The thick paste that was left was not as rich tasting or creamy as with the oil, but still had the flavor.

Tahini

tahini
That's a lot of oil

However, Suzanne's recipe was made with full fat tahini - if you prefer that, do not discard the oil when it separates. Simply stir it back in. It will be a richer, creamier sauce.

Cauliflower: 
Cut up a large cauliflower into large floretes and steam the floretes  until firm soft. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Lower fat less rich tasting tahini sauce : 
3 tablespoons of tahini  (I poured off any oil from the top of jar)
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
1/2 cup of almond milk 
1/4 cup of aquafaba (the liquid from cooked chickpeas or canned chickpeas) or water
1 tablespoon of non GMO corn starch
1/2 teaspoon of cumin

Suzanne's tahini richer sauce: 
1/2 cup of  tahini paste
1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon of garlic powder 
1/2 cup of water or more by the tablespoon if needed for consistency
1/2 teaspoon of paprika
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon of cumin


Directions: 
Place the cooked cauliflower in a baking dish. Pour 1 cup of tahini sauce over the cauliflower distributing oner all of the cauliflower and bake in a pre-heated oven for 20 minutes. Serve and Enjoy 

Sharing this post on Weekend Cooking at The Intrepid Reader and Baker


18 comments:

  1. Oh wow. I'm sold on this. Love cauliflower and tahini. I'd likely use the full-fat tahini, because I like the creaminess. Annnnd -- this would be a good topping for nachos!!

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    1. Yes the full fat is much creamier and the combination of tahini and cauliflower is divine.

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  2. I love tahini sauce -- Suzanne's recipe is very similar to the ones I have made. Recently, I used it on grilled eggplant. Also very nice. I'll have to try it with cauliflower, too.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

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    1. Yes, I believe it is a pretty common recipe for tahini sauce. I think it would be amazing on grilled eggplant

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  3. Yum! That Cauliflower dish is on my list! Thank you.

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    1. I hope that you like it- I know that you make many interesting dishes that you share on your blog.

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  4. Awesome your post .. thanks for sharing

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  5. This looks mouthwatering. I love tahini sauce on everything!

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    1. As you probably remember, my husband is from the Middle East where tahini is a staple and we often do eat it on everything.

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  6. it is always great to try foods from other cultures! They look delicious!

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  7. I'd love to try this! Looks fantastic!

    Happy Monday!

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  8. We use tahini alot (especially in winter times). But i havent used cauliflower with tahini before. It sounds really good.

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  9. Suzanne's spread looks lovely! They're doing amazing things with cauliflower these days, so I can see why you wanted to try -- and put your own spin on! -- your friend's recipe. What's more, it looks like mac n' cheese, which is always a win for me. :)

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  10. I love the sound of this. I make my own tahini with a little bit of sesame oil. But that is easy to leave out or substitute.

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  11. I think my daughter-in-law would appreciate this dish.

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  12. Look at that amazing spread of healthy, colorful, naturally gluten-free food! I love tahini so I'm sure I would enjoy the "star" recipe!

    Shirley

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  13. I love cauliflower cooked almost any way possible. I wish it wasn’t so expensive. I always keep tahini on hand, so I need to put this delicious looking vegetable dish into my menu rotation for next week.

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