Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Honey Lemon Dressing

I was inspired to make this recipe after tasting an outstandingly delicious roasted cauliflower salad at a London café. After some careful tasting, a little detective work (chatted with the cook at the café), and recipe testing, I bring you this beautiful salad of turmeric-spiced roasted cauliflower with tahini honey lemon dressing.

There are so many layers of excitement in this salad. The dressing is dominated by rich roasted sesame flavors from the tahini and balanced with a touch of sweet honey and tangy lemon. The creamy dressing coats the roasted cauliflower, which is already so tasty, with cumin and turmeric baked into it. Also in the mix is fresh spinach, lovely sweet bits of chopped dates, toasted flaked almonds and slivers of red onion. 

I recommend this roasted cauliflower salad for any occasion. It has gotten big wows and unanimous thumbs up from all of my recipe testers.

HOW TO MAKE TURMERIC ROASTED CAULIFLOWER SALAD WITH TAHINI HONEY LEMON DRESSING

Cut the cauliflower into bite-sized florets. Whisk up olive oil, cumin, turmeric, a pinch of cayenne and salt.

Pour the spice mix over the cauliflower and toss to coat.

Roast the cauliflower in a 425ºF oven for 20 minutes.

Whisk up the tahini dressing: tahini, lemon juice, honey, garlic, salt and water.

In a large bowl, combine the roasted cauliflower with blanched spinach leaves, chopped dates, sliced red onion and toasted almonds. Toss with dressing.

This roasted cauliflower salad is delicious cold or at room temperature. And it’s great with an extra squeeze of fresh lemon.

Garnish it with more sliced almonds if you like.

By the way, if you love cauliflower, you might also enjoy this delicious vegetarian Cauliflower Casserole with Quinoa Kale and Sharp Cheddar or this one with Roasted Cauliflower Potatoes and Chickpeas with Kalamata Olive Vinaigrette.

A big shout out to J+A Café for inspiring this delicious recipe. I usually go there for their homemade chicken soup. They puree the soup veggies into the broth so it’s thick and creamy and delicious. They also do salads really well.

Here’s the recipe for Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Honey Lemon Dressing. If you try this recipe I hope you’ll come back to leave a rating and comment. I’d love to know what you think.

Turmeric Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Tahini Honey Lemon Dressing

★★★★★

5 from 1 reviews

A flavorful roasted cauliflower salad with spinach, almonds and dates, tossed in scrumptious tahini dressing with honey and lemon. Worthy of a special occasion.

• Author: Lisa
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 6-8
• Category: salad, side dish
• Method: oven
• Cuisine: Mediterranean

Ingredients

For The Dressing:

• 1/2 cup Tahini
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 medium garlic cloves, pressed
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt or sea salt
• 2-5 tablespoons of water (see instructions)

For The Salad:

• 2 pounds of bite-sized cauliflower florets, cut from 1 large head of cauliflower or 2 small heads
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• a pinch or of cayenne pepper
• 4-5 medjool dates, chilled, pitted and chopped (note: chill the dates in the fridge for at least an hour before cutting, or they might stick together and turn to mush when you chop them)
• 8 ounces of fresh spinach leaves, washed
• 1/2 of a small red onion, peeled, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup flaked almonds, lightly toasted in a dry skillet for a couple of minutes
• salt and pepper to taste

Optional Garnishes:

• 2 or 3 tablespoons of flaked almonds
• Lemon slices to serve alongside

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425ºF

In a small bowl whisk the tahini, 3 tablespoons of lemon juice, honey, garlic, and 1 teaspoon of salt until combined. Slowly add water, 2 teaspoons at a time, whisking, until your dressing is the consistency of thin honey. Set aside.

Put the cauliflower in a large bowl. In a small bowl whisk the oil, cumin, turmeric, salt and cayenne. Pour over cauliflower and toss well until all the pieces are evenly coated. Spread florets out on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 20 minutes or until just tender and starting to brown in spots. Don’t let it get too soft. Let cauliflower cool for 10-15 minutes.

While the cauliflower is cooling, blanch the spinach. Drop the leaves into a pot of boiling water and let them wilt for 30 seconds or so. Drain in a colander and immediately run under cold water, lifting and turning the leaves under the water until they are all cool. Drain spinach and remove excess water by wrapping the spinach in a clean dish cloth and squeezing it several times, over the sink.

In a large bowl, combine cauliflower, spinach, dates, red onion and almonds. Give the dressing another whisk and pour it over the salad. Toss. Season, to taste with salt and pepper and additional lemon juice. Toss again.

Serve the salad cold or at room temperature. You can make this up to a day ahead and keep it covered in the fridge.

Keywords: cauliflower, salad, turmeric, tahini