Cauliflower and Chickpea ‘Vitality Bowls’

New blog friend Martha often posts her weekly menu, and as figuring out WHAT to cook is my biggest cooking challenge, I have found myself going to her posts for inspiration. This week’s menu included a recipe for what Ted calls a ‘vitality bowl’, but the recipe is called Cauliflower Shawarma Grain Bowl. I did a search for the recipe name and came up with a lot of different recipes that look to be pretty similar. I’ll stick with this one as it was delicious. I’m posting here so I don’t lose the recipe, along with my notes, such as they are. There are a lot of steps, but none are difficult. Not a set it and forget it type of recipe like a sheet pan meal, but also not loud (blessing when Ted is recording radio spots while I’m cooking). I would say it took me 45 minutes total, and I had time in there to unload the dishwasher.

Cauliflower Shawarma Grain Bowl

Ingredients

• 1 c quinoa
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 c water or vegetable broth
• 1 14-oz can chickpeas rinsed, drained, and dried
• 1 head cauliflower cut into bite-sized florets
• 3 tbsp olive oil divided
• 1/2 pint cherry tomatoes quartered
• 2 persian cucumbers diced into 1/2″ pieces (I used 1/2 of an English cucumber, it’s what I had)
• 1/2 small red onion thinly sliced
• 1/4 c chopped parsley
• 1/4 c chopped mint
• 1 lemon zested and juiced
• 1/2 cup tahini dressing

Shawarma Spice Blend

• 2 tsp cracked black pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika (I only had smoked paprika, so I used that. Delicious.)
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I forgot this, would have been good, but the paprika had enough kick that I didn’t really miss it)
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder

Tahini Dressing
(I halved this part, as the recipe called for only 1/2 cup total. This is the full recipe.)

• ½ c. tahini
• ¼ – ½ c. water
• ¼ c. olive oil
• 1 lemon juiced
• sea salt to taste
• cracked black pepper to taste

Instructions
Heat the oven to 400*F.

Rinse the quinoa, then place into a small pot. Cover with 2 cups water or broth and add ½ tsp salt. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. Turn off the heat, and keep covered an additional 10 minutes.

Mix the shawarma spice blend until all ingredients are evenly distributed.

Rinse, drain, and dry the chickpeas. Be sure to dry thoroughly with a cotton kitchen towel or paper towels. Toss with 1 tbsp olive oil, then spread onto a baking sheet. (I used a small baking sheet, and it was plenty large for the chickpeas. My oven is kind of cramped. The author says it is important to dry the checkpeas, or else they won’t crisp.)

Toss the cauliflower with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and just over half the spice blend. Set the remaining spice blend aside to use later. Spread the cauliflower onto a second (full sized) baking sheet.

Place the baking sheets in the oven and roast, rotating once halfway through, about 30 minutes total. The chickpeas are done when they’re golden browned and crisp. The cauliflower is done when you can easily pierce the stems with the tip of a sharp knife.

Place the tomatoes, cucumbers, red onion, mint, and parsley in a small bowl, season with ½ tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper and toss.

Place the tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper into a blender along with 1/4 cup of water to start. (We don’t currently have a blender, ours died due to old cracked seals that we could no longer find replacements for. I just whisked it all together in a small bowl and it worked fine.) Blend until emulsified. Add additional water to reach desired consistency. For salad dressing, vs. a dipping sauce, I use closer to half a cup, sometimes a bit more.

Remove the chick peas from the oven and toss with the remaining spice blend and lemon zest.

Remove the cauliflower from the oven and sprinkle with the lemon juice.

Assemble the shawarma bowls. Divide the cooked quinoa between 4 bowls. Top with one-quarter of the chickpeas, one-quarter of the cauliflower, and one-quarter of the tomato cucumber salad. Drizzle with tahini dressing to taste and serve immediately.