Cauliflower Gratin with Tahini Sauce (Vegan)

Tangy, creamy, and herbalicious! There’s so much to love about this dish when it comes to taste, texture, simplicity, and of course–health benefits.  This is my healthier version of a Levantine favorite (fried cauliflower with ‘tarator’, or tahini sauce). However, this tastes way better, and fares as a much lighter and nutritious dish.

A nice, hefty portion (of around 120 grams) of this dish contains about 190 calories, lots of heart-healthy fats, 60% recommended daily value of vitamin C, 35% vitamin K, 30% thiamin, and 25% of each of manganese, phosphorus, and copper. And the list is not over yet, with other considerable amounts of folic acid, calcium, riboflavin (vitamin B2), zinc, magnesium, iron, and vitamin B6. A serving also contains about 4 grams of fiber (and you get some more fiber into this meal if you combine it with some brown rice or whole grain bread!).

Preparing for this dish also allows for some practicality. If you want to plan this dish as a future meal, you can prepare the cauliflowers and freeze them until you want to cook this dish, and you can also prepare the sauce one or two days in advance and refrigerate.

To prepare, you’ll need the following ingredients (serves 4-6):

Flowerets of 2 cauliflowers, and enough water to boil them

1/2 cup lemon

1 cup tahini

1/2 cup water

1 clove garlic

2 tbsp of each: chopped parsley and chopped cilantro

1 tsp of each: ground paprika, coriander

1/2 tsp of each: cinnamon, allspice

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to around 180 degrees Celsius. Meanwhile, prepare the cauliflower by bringing the flowerets to a boil for around 2 minutes, and then taking them off the heat. Cover the pot (without heat) for around 10 minutes.

2. To prepare the sauce, add the lemon juice, the tahini, and the water in a separate container. Whisk until you have a homogeneous mixture. Add more water if you like a thinner consistency (the sauce tends to thicken when you bake it). Add in the garlic, herbs, and spices.

3. Drain the cauliflower, and put them in an oven casserole. you can rub 1 tbsp of oil on them if you want, but they’ll be just fine without the added oil! Leave in the oven for around 10 minutes.

4. Remove the cauliflower from the oven, and add  the sauce. Bake again for another 10-15 minutes (or until the sauce reaches the thickness you like). Remember, the longer you leave it in the oven, the thicker (and drier) the sauce becomes!

Tip: you can have it along with some brown rice on the side, or wrap some morsels in pieces of whole grain pita bread.

Enjoy!

Roula 🙂