This satisfying, weeknight-quick vegetarian meal is in our rotation—try it once and it will be in yours too. Recipe below.
OUR DAUGHTER LAUREL MAKES THIS QUICK, DELICIOUS DISH on a regular basis. She is not sure where she got the original recipe—she ran across it while visiting friends a few years back—but it’s become a regular part of her arsenal. It’s clearly inspired by the Indian street food chaat. It is packed with fiber and flavor, and it is so satisfying. We love it.
Regarding healthy, cauliflower has been called a superfood. It’s high in fiber and rich in many nutrients, including some noted for aiding memory function, boosting immune function and even reducing cancer risk. Women’s Health had an article in December outlining nine benefits of eating cauliflower. Chickpeas are no slouch. According to Cleveland Clinic, they are a complete protein, “great for vegetarians and vegans.” They’re also high in fiber, promote heart health and are gluten-free.
When you’ve made this once, you will want to make it again, with variations. So we’ve put a few suggestions in the Kitchen Notes.
We had leftovers, and the next day we added the leftovers to some dal makhri, heated everything and had it with brown rice. That was wonderful too.
Roasted Cauliflower Chickpea Dinner
Equipment
- 2 baking dishes or hotel pans about 12x17, oiled
Ingredients
- 1 small cauliflower, about 1 pound (see Kitchen Notes)
- 1 medium onion, cut into coarse chunks
- 2 15-ounce cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sweet Hungarian paprika (see Kitchen Notes regarding spices)
- 1 - 2 teaspoons shichimi togarashi (see Kitchen Notes)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400ºF. Break up the cauliflower into smallish chunks—cut off the stems and use them for another purpose (sliced thin, this makes a nice snack) or put it in your compost pile, I am not judging.
- Put the cauliflower, the cut up onion and the drained chickpeas in a big bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and toss everything with your hands until the oil coats everything. Make sure everything is lightly oily. Then sprinkle on the paprika and shichimi togarashi, and toss again so everything is uniformly spiced.
- Next, evenly scatter everything on your oiled baking sheets. Put in the heated oven. Position the pans on two different racks, in the center, with adequate space between for hot air to circulate. Set a timer for 12 minutes.
- When the timer goes off, slide the pans out, stir everything, then put them back in the oven, reversing their locations on the racks (top pan to lower rack). Set the timer for another 12 minutes.
- When the timer goes off again, you should be seeing signs that things are progressing well. You may need to stir everything and put it back in the oven for another ride, but at this point keep an eye on things so the veg doesn’t overbake. You want the cauliflower to be soft, to yield to a fork and be turning golden; the chickpeas to be crisp on the outside and soft inside; and the onion to be soft and starting to caramelize. If the onion gets scarily dark, don’t worry—pay attention to the cauliflower and the chickpeas. That onion is still going to taste great.
- When everything is done, take it out of the oven. It is ready to go! Serve with a green salad if you like, or some sliced tomatoes on the side.
Kitchen Notes
Liz’s Crockery Corner, unsolved mystery edition. This lovely footed vegetable tureen is a puzzle to me. It is unmarked, meaning I have no concrete proof of who made it or how old it is. Every time I try to research it, I come up with new confusion. (1) it was made in England in the 1870s. (2) it was made in France in the 1870s. (3) It was made in France in the 1920s or the 1930s. There are plenty of tureens of exactly this shape to support all these hypotheses. I think a French origin is kinda more likely, if only because by the 1870s, English law adamantly required all English-made pottery to be clearly labeled—because it was highly coveted in the English-speaking global marketplace. Lots of potteries in other countries, in fact, chose not to label their products in hopes of passing as English. The weird thing about ascribing this to a French maker (possibly Saint-Auban? Gien Terre de Fer?), though, is that most French ceramics also have some sort of label. So, geez folks, I got nothing. But isn't it pretty?
What a terrific dish! Roast cauliflower is terrific. Chickpeas, too. So many different ways to spice this, too. We’ll definitely be making this — thanks.
Mmm, two of my favorite ingredients: cauliflower & chickpeas.
that tureen is lovely. i am a huge fan of cauli and chickpeas so will give this one a try. what on earth is a hotel pan? never heard of that one 🙂
Sherry, a hotel pan is just a baking sheet with a rim that is usually an inch or two high. Thank you for asking! I hope you like the recipe.
I love simple clean food dishes like this one with a healthy vegetable such as cauliflower and high protein chickpeas. Sounds and looks delicious.
Sharing recipes like this with my senior friends is a joy. Many of us take Bariatric Multivitamins, and recipes like these make it enjoyable. Have you considered creating a cookbook specifically for seniors post-bariatric surgery? It could be a wonderful resource for our community!