I don't often roast vegetables on the side. I cook so many vegetarian recipes as it is, that adding more vegetables on the side almost seems superfluous. These Tahini Roasted Carrots & Cauliflower are the standout dish this Christmas. It's one of those recipes where I'm glad that I wrote down what I did! Because I've been craving these for weeks since and am going to have to start picking up more cauliflower.
This is hands down the best dish that I've made all season. The tahini, honey, and a splash of white wine pair incredibly well with the earthiness of the cauliflower and carrots. You could mix and match any of the spices that you want. I'm going for a loosely Moroccan-style Christmas, so I opted for smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, allspice, and cloves. Although you can easily mix and match your own favorite seasonings.
The wine is entirely optional. It evaporates while cooking, so you're not going to be actively consuming alcohol, as long as they're cooked long enough. It gives a slight sweetness, citrus, and almost bitter taste to the dish, though, that I very much enjoy. It also adds some moisture without having to add in oil or dilute it with water. I still did use a splash of oil to keep the carrots and cauliflower from sticking to the pan. Although you can easily use white wine vinegar or more olive oil, instead.
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I would recommend mixing the spices with the olive oil in a large bowl and then tossing the cauliflower and carrots in it. Being the holidays, I'm entirely out of large bowls, though. So, I just poured the mixture over the produce and rolled them around on the baking dish. This works incredibly well for the carrots. Although I would recommend mixing the cauliflower in a large bowl if you have one. It helps get an even coat all around the florets.
Variations of Tahini Roasted Cauliflower
A quick and easy way to elevate any dish is to add in roasted fruits and vegetables. This holiday season, roasted carrots and cauliflower was the star of the show. Although it also works incredibly well with roasted squash and a variety of other dishes. I made another batch similar to this roasted cauliflower and plopped it into curry.
This Tahini Roasted Cauliflower & Carrots recipe consists of tahini, honey, white wine, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, allspice, and cloves. All drizzled in olive oil and baked until deliciously tender. It's maybe the best dish that I made all holiday season.
1tbsp.dry white wine(I used sauvignon blanc) or white wine vinegar
dashsmoked paprika
dashcumin
dashcoriander
dashallspice
dashcloves
dashsalt
dashpepper
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Chop the cauliflower up into more reasonable sizes. I cut mine into about 1-inch chunks. Although you can make them any size you please. I roasted the carrots alongside these whole, so larger chunks of cauliflower will do just fine. If you want smaller pieces, though, consider also chopping up the carrots or roasting them separately, so that the cauliflower doesn't burn while the carrots are still softening!
Mix together the olive oil, tahini, honey, wine, smoked paprika, cumin, coriander, allsprice, cloves, salt, and pepper and then toss in the cauliflower and carrots (all of the ingredients).
Arrange evenly across a baking sheet. It's fine if the produce is touching, just make sure that they're all touching the baking sheet and not stacked on top of one another!
Place in the oven and roast for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown. Make sure to stir about halfway through to keep the bottoms from burning and sticking to the pan.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
I like to add wine in for a little bit of sweetness and acidity. This is entirely optional, though! Too much wine, or burnt wine, can also impart an unpleasantly bitter aftertaste. It can also dry out the produce/ So, just make sure not to add in too much! Or, at least, to add in more olive oil than wine.
This Page Contains Edited Images
As a general rule, I don't like to edit images. Food styling, editing, alteration, and even faking entirely is just as rampant a problem in the recipe realm. Cooking is a very visual art and you can tell when a lot of foods are cooked based on the color. So, when this is altered and you can't use the coloration as a gauge, it makes it quite difficult to follow some recipes. I have an entire article about Food Styling and Unrealistic Expectations of Recipes. My place has very warm lighting, though. So, sometimes my camera overcompensates and ends up with an unnatural hues. I've adjusted the hues, levels, and/or cropped the following images:
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